Manchester United plan to offload star player to fund Cristiano Ronaldo's return this summer

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- Frenchman Anthony Martial is set to be offloaded by Manchester United in a bid to sign Cristiano Ronaldo

- The Portuguese goal machine is reportedly going to cost them £178m

- Meanwhile, United are hoping to sign the 33-year-old to improve their attack ahead of the coming season

Premier League outfit Manchester United are reportedly planning to offload French striker Anthony Martial at the end of this season to fund the return of Cristiano Ronaldo according to Daily Star.

The Portuguese international joined Real Madrid in the then world record fee of £84.60 million in 2009, and the Red Devils’ boss, Jose Mourinho is hoping to reunite with his former player to improve attack in a bid to compete against their city rivals, Manchester City next season.

United are currently 2nd on the English topflight table with 62 points from 29 games – 16 points behind Pep Guardiola’s men, who are at the summit of the log after the same number of games.

Meanwhile, their game against Liverpool at Old Trafford this weekend will determine if they will maintain that position with eight matches left to play in the ongoing season.

The former Chelsea manager is hoping to catch up with the Citizens, who spent over £250 million this season to build their present team which saw the likes of Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker and Aymeric Laporte join the Ethiad Stadium side.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, are also looking at overhauling their team, with some tired legs tipped to leave the club in June after what can be referred to as a poor season for the Galacticos in the league.

Same cannot be said about the Champions League defending champions, having beaten PSG 5-2 on aggregate to progress to the quarterfinals of this year’s edition, as they are hoping to win the title for the third time on a row.

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Nonetheless, club’s performances in the domestic leagues is something to worry, as they have crashed out of the Copa Del Rey and are not likely to win the La Liga title this term.

Unless they win the European title at the end, they will go without a winning a silverware – reasons they are planning to bring in new players like Eden Hazard and Harry Kane.

Ronaldo has scored 31 goals in 33 appearances this season for Real Madrid, and according to Spanish tabloid, El Gol Digital, the Red Devils are will have to offload Martial, who has fallen down the pecking order since the arrival of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in January to make room for Ronaldo.

Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata and Alexis Sanchez are all preferred options to the Frenchman.

The report goes on to state that a bid of £178m will be enough to secure the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, while he is expected to lead his side’s attack against Eibar this weekend in the Spanish Premier League.

His goal against PSG in France on Tuesday, March 6, brought his tally in the Champions League to 12 goals to bring his total to 29 so far this season.

The former Sporting CP striker has scored 301 goals for Los Blancos in 286 appearances in all competitions, and will be hoping to score more when his side face Eibar on Saturday, March 10.

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