What Happens Next For Cristiano Ronaldo?

At the final whistle of Portugal’s 1-0 defeat to Morocco in the World Cup quarter-final on Saturday Cristiano Ronaldo was overcome with emotion and headed straight down the tunnel to the safety of the dressing room.

He chose not to stay on the pitch to console his team-mates or even congratulate Morocco as they became the first African nation to reach the last four of the World Cup.

Instead he walked down the tunnel holding his face and shedding some tears as a tournament official patted him on the back.

He turns 38 in February and knows this was his final chance to win the World Cup. He will have also been well aware his great rival Lionel Messi had managed to reach the semi-finals 24 hours earlier.

So what happens next for Ronaldo?

What we know for sure is he won’t be returning to Old Trafford. He arrived in Qatar as a Manchester United player but leaves without a club.

He won’t even be returning to Manchester to clear out his locker as he had already done it before departing for the World Cup. He never expected to come back.

In the week before the World Cup he had given an interview to Piers Morgan in which he said he did not respect the United manager Erik ten Hag and felt betrayed by the club. This was his way of forcing them to release him from his contract and he got his wish.

As club football gets ready to resume after the World Cup Ronaldo now needs to secure a new home to showcase his dwindling talents in the final years of his career.

During the summer, after he had first made it known he wished to leave United and find a club in the Champions League none came forward for him.

Since then Ronaldo has visibly declined as a player for both United in the Premier League, where he scored just once this season, and Portugal at the World Cup, where he failed to score from open play in five games in Qatar. He has also proved to be a disruptive presence when he doesn’t get his way.

It is hardly the most attractive proposition for any clubs who may have harboured some interest in signing Ronaldo. He now represents a huge risk.

The only club to have made an offer for Ronaldo in the last six months was Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia last summer, who are reported to have offered him a two-year contract worth around £305 million.

In his interview with Morgan last month Ronaldo confirmed the offer. “It’s true, yes it’s true,” he said, before explaining how he turned down so much money. “It’s hard, it’s hard. But in the same way, I thought that I was very happy here [at United]; that I was still capable to score goals.”

Despite being offered these riches Ronaldo was not ready to take a step down and move to Saudi Arabia, whose Pro League is thriving, but was still recently ranked the 20^th best league in the world, below the English Championship and the Scottish Premiership.

Ronaldo has performed in the world’s best three leagues for the last 20 years, the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A, and was not prepared to move so far down.

On Monday last week it was reported Ronaldo had a new offer from Saudi Arabia, this time from Al-Nassr, who were prepared to offer him a two and a half year contract, worth up to £400 million. However, Ronaldo said, “No, it’s not true.”

Ronaldo’s ego, and his firm belief he can keep playing in one of Europe’s leading leagues is what inspired his exit from Manchester United, and so he needs to find somewhere that will let him do that. Ideally, he would also like to play in the Champions League again, and extend his record of 140 goals in the competition.

But there are few clubs willing to take on a highly-paid striker on the verge of his 38^th birthday who has one league goal to his name so far this season.

Chelsea showed some interest last summer when their new owner Todd Boehly even held talks with Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes. He thought the player would be the ultimate statement signing, but his then manager Thomas Tuchel disagreed and they backed away. It is unlikely they would be tempted back now.

Napoli also briefly showed some interest last summer, but they have since risen to the top of the Serie A table where they hold an 8 point lead over AC Milan and would not want to do anything to disrupt that like signing Ronaldo.

The idea of a homecoming to Sporting Lisbon, his first professional club, might appeal to Ronaldo, but they simply could not afford him. In October the club’s manager Ruben Amorim said, “Everybody in Sporting dreams of the return for Cristiano but we don’t have the money to pay his wages.” But Ronaldo could still make it happen by lowering his wage demands to a level that would allow him to return.

In his interview with Morgan, Ronaldo bristled at the idea there were few clubs willing to sign him. “What the press keep saying, the garbage that nobody wants me, which is completely wrong,” he said.

We are about to find out if he is right.