Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly set to take on a shock role at Manchester United after retiring.

In December 2022, Ronaldo became the first major player to leave European football for Saudi Arabia after signing for Al Nassr. The 39-year-old decided to move to the Middle East after his second spell with Man United ended in acrimony.

Since then, a variety of stars including Karim Benzema, Neymar, Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez and Fabinho have all moved to the Saudi Arabian Professional Football League.

Speaking to TV Sporten recently, former England and Liverpool striker Michael Owen suggested Ronaldo would become Man United’s coach after he retires.

Owen said: “Just from the outside looking in, it looks like Ronaldo wants to be on the sidelines leading Portugal as he did at Euro 2016.

He looks like a coach, like he wants to be a coach, so Ronaldo might want to go down that path. The Portugal job, maybe in the future it could have his name on it, you never know.”

Owen added: “Of course, if Ronaldo does well, big teams like Manchester United, Real Madrid will keep an eye on him.”

Ronaldo is said to be able to lead MU in the future (Photo: SportBb).

Following Man United’s recent 0-3 defeat to arch-rivals Liverpool, Owen suggested the Red Devils may have to think about Erik ten Hag’s future.

He said: “I can’t see them getting into the top four. I think Man Utd will need a change of manager before they get off to a good start, so is anyone surprised by their start to the season?

Maybe they were lucky to get three points at home in the first game. But no matter how you look at it, there hasn’t been enough change.”

The 44-year-old continued: “I still think Manchester United need to change a little bit before they can start to progress.”