Cristiano Ronaldo wants to hang up his boots at Manchester United before guiding his son through the club’s academy, according to reports.
Despite yesterday’s defeat against Aston Villa, Ronaldo has lit up Old Trafford since his return to the United this summer with four goals already to his name.
At 36 years of age, the Portuguese forward is showing no signs of slowing down but according to The Sun he has plans for when he does retire and that involves staying at the theatre of dreams.
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The report claims he wants to move into coaching at United after retiring and that could see him oversee his son’s development.
Ronaldo has made no secret of his hopes that his son will follow in his footsteps and having been nurtured himself by Sir Alex Ferguson as a teenager, he wants Cristiano Jr to have the same chances at Old Trafford.
Cristiano Jr is already training with the Red devils’coaches having previously trained in Juventus’ youth setup before Ronaldo’s return this summer.
A source told the newspaper: ‘Ronaldo has made it clear to everyone he has come back to United to help them win trophies.
‘But in his mind he is going to play for them for more than a couple of years. ‘He is still at the peak of his physical fitness and loves showing that nothing is impossible.
‘He is obsessed with football and knows everything about the game. ‘Lots of players have started their coaching career at United so he thinks it could be a good way of starting off the next chapter of his career.’
Asked how long Ronaldo could go on, Solskjaer said: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if he still played when he was 40, not at all, because of the way he looks after himself.
‘That’s the key to it – and of course some genes. There must be some genes as well, some DNA in there.
‘He has put every single ounce of energy and effort into becoming the player he is and has been, so he deserves every single little plaudit that he gets for his physical state.
‘What’s more impressive is when you have achieved as much as he has, he’s still as hungry. His mentality is still absolutely spot-on and that’s a desire from inside that he’s going to keep going until his head says, “no, I’ve given everything now”.
‘Hopefully it will last a few more years. Linford Christie (who won the Olympic 100m aged 32 in 1992) was quite an age when he won his gold as well, so age is never a problem.’
