Cristiano Ronaldo ‘tells Real Madrid he wants to leave’ – and is said to want a sensational return to Manchester United

CRISTIANO RONALDO has sensationally told Real Madrid he wants to leave them and is said to favour a move back to Manchester United, according to reports in Spain and Portugal.

The four-time Ballon d'Or winner has enjoyed another sensational season at the Bernabeu but is said to feel the club has not protected him sufficiently after he was charged with allegedly evading £13million in tax.

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Real Madrid appeared to completely back him, but a different picture has since emerged which may suggest why he wants out after eight years at the club.

Keep up to date with all the latest news, gossip, rumours and done deals in SunSport's live transfer blog

reported this morning Ronaldo has decided his time in Spain has come to an end and he has communicated this "irreversible" decision as final to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

The shocking news was backed up hours later on the website of newspaper Marca, which is viewed as Madrid's mouthpiece.

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The breakdown may be linked to reports in El Confidencial which claimed that, as it emerged that news of Ronaldo’s charge was going to break, Real contacted all the Spanish media outlets and requested them not to publish pictures of Ronaldo in a Los Blancos shirt when covering the story.

Ronaldo, who left Manchester United to join Real Madrid in 2009 and won everything with Los Blancos, was also puzzlingly left out of a video promo for Madrid's new kit.

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And despite being a global superstar, he has frequently been jeered by disgruntled fans — and has spoken of his unhappiness at what he perceives to be a lack of gratitude.

Even though he is 32, Ronaldo is still one of the fittest athletes in football and his marketing worth means breaking the world record to sign him would still be profitable.

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But there are few clubs that could actually afford him.

Former side United are likely candidates — although, he did fall out with Jose Mourinho during his time as Real Madrid manager.

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Paris Saint-Germain would certainly be keen to sign him as they look to fill the void left by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s exit last summer.

Chelsea and Manchester City could both certainly afford Ronaldo, but it unlikely he would be the type of personality either Pep Guardiola or Antonio Conte like to work with.

And his allegiance to United could stop either of those moves.

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The Chinese Super League is another potential option open to Ronaldo — with agent Jorge Mendes revealing a unnamed club had made a sensational offer to sign him and that the superstar was happy at the Bernabeu.

He claimed: "From China they’ve offered £260m to Real Madrid and more than £87m-a-year [£1.7m-a-week] to the player.

“But money is not everything. Real Madrid is his life. Cristiano is happy at Real Madrid and it is impossible to go to China."

Things have changed somewhat since.