Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t ruled out his desire to become a coach after retirement.
Fantasy scenarios have been rife throughout the football world after ex-Premier League manager Tim Sherwood suggested Ronaldo could become one as early as 2023.
Sherwood has sensationally tipped the 36-year-old to replace his current boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at United in ’18 months.’
He told Ladbrokes: “That boy will be a manager, 100 per cent. I would have a bet on him being Manchester United manager in 18 months.”
Solskjaer sanctioned a £20million deal to bring Ronaldo back to Old Trafford after 12 years in the summer.
While Sherwood’s claims stray far from reality, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner could genuinely be looking to become a coach in the near future.
Speaking in 2019 whilst thriving at Juventus, Ronaldo hinted that he could get into coaching once he hangs up his playing boots.
“I’m not ruling it out,” Ronaldo admitted to ICON magazine.
He’s showing no signs of slowing down yet, though, and has looked as imperious as ever leading the line in Solskjaer’s side so far this season.
Ronaldo has even presented glimpses of his leadership and coaching pedigree at United, regularly giving teammates advice during both warm-ups and games.
Sherwood added that Solskjaer’s job wouldn’t be at risk if he starts winning trophies, but he believes United have a ready-made successor in Ronaldo.
He said: “If they win the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, any of those trophies, then Solskjaer keeps his job, but if they don’t win anything, I think they’ve got a manager there in the making.
“He could bring an experienced coach in there with him – someone like Carlos Queiroz – as he’ll know plenty of them, and I can see him being a manager at Man United in the future.
“He’s almost coaching now; you saw it at the weekend during the warm-up whispering in Varane’s and Maguire’s ears.
“But I don’t think it’s that he needs the captain’s armband to be a leader; he leads by example anyway.
“He did when he was at United the first time it’s just now he’s being more vocal with it.”
Ronaldo will be entirely focused on doing his job on the pitch for now, after netting four goals in his first three games since re-joining the Red Devils.