Cristiano Ronaldo must have felt more than just a little sheepish when he lined up in the Europa League on Thursday night.

When Ronaldo brought his three-year stint at Juventus to a close last summer, part of the idea was that he wanted to maximise his chances of securing both team and individual trophies in the twilight years of his career.

However, as much as returning to Manchester United has indeed been a fairy tale for the sentimental fans amongst us, it most certainly hasn't been a fairy tale from a footballing perspective.

Ronaldo's Man Utd predicament

The Red Devils' attempted Premier League title charge crashed and burned within a few weeks as the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era imploded and Ralf Rangnick's interim reign culminated in disaster.

The end result was United's worst ever season in England's top-flight since the 1992 rebranding and crucially from Ronaldo's point of view, no more Champions League football courtesy of a sixth-place finish.

That, of course, led to a series of events where Ronaldo - often nicknamed 'Mr. Champions League', lest we forget - tried to push for a move away from Old Trafford this summer only to seemingly be rejected by every European club and their dog.

As such, there we were: watching the head-scratching sight that was Ronaldo lining up in Europe's second-string competition, no doubt wondering how on earth he'd gotten there.

HAALAND, JESUS OR MARTINEZ? RANKING THE BEST SUMMER TRANSFERS🔥 (Football Terrace)

Man Utd stars believe Ronaldo will push for January exit

But if a new report from The Sun is to be believed, then Ronaldo's exile in the Europa League could only last a few months because there's suspicion in the United camp that their star man could well fight for a January move.

That's because the British newspaper explained on Sunday that "Manchester United stars believe Cristiano Ronaldo is still angling for a move - and has his eye on a January exit."

The alarming report goes onto quote a source as saying: “All the players loved it when Ronaldo came back to United last season but they are frustrated he missed pre-season.

“The manager put a lot of work into giving the squad detailed information about what he wanted them to do and how he wanted them to play.

“Ronaldo is not up to speed with that and is relying on instinct when he plays. But that doesn't work in Ten Hag’s system.

Ronaldo and Ten Hag at Brentford.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Southampton v Manchester United - St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - August 27, 2022 Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag talks to Cristiano Ronaldo before he comes on as a substitute REUTERS/Hannah Mckay EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

“He often demands the ball too early in build-up play and drops deep for the ball, but that means when the ball is wide there is no-one in the middle to hit it into.

“Ten Hag and the rest of the players really rate Ronaldo.

"But it’s clear that the success they have had this season is from following tactical instruction rather than the individual brilliance they relied on last season.

“Ronaldo is likely to find himself on the bench again going forward.

"And he is going to have to get used to scoring a lot less goals because he is only being introduced towards the end of games when Ten Hag has already made changes which make United less attacking.

“He needs to realise it’s only going to work if he tunes into Ten Hag’s plans.”

Cristiano Ronaldo and Erik ten Hag
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Liverpool - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - August 22, 2022 Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo with manager Erik ten Hag before coming on as a substitute REUTERS/Phil Noble EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact

Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Liverpool - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - August 22, 2022 Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo with manager Erik ten Hag before coming on as a substitute REUTERS/Phil Noble EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

What now for Ronaldo?

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has only started once in the Premier League this season with a report in The Sun earlier in the weekend revealing that Erik ten Hag is very much invested in the idea of Marcus Rashford continuing to lead the line.

And these fresh details will hardly do anything to temper fears that Ronaldo could once again start looking for an exit plan as soon as the transfer window opens again.

Besides, the grounds for divorce would certainly be a lot clearer if a sustained period of collaboration between Ten Hag and Ronaldo led to nothing more than the Portuguese star being deployed as a back-up striker.

Ronaldo or Messi? GMS Shop

Ronaldo or Messi? GMS Shop

Now, whether or not that means there's a Champions League club out there willing to loosen their purse strings is another question entirely, but don't just assume that Ronaldo is here to stay now that he's sticking around for the rest of 2022.

All good things must come to an end.