Cristiano Ronaldo is a "goal machine" who will remain competitive until the day he retires, former Italy and Juventus defender Gianluca Zambrotta has told Stats Perform.
Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo has reportedly asked to leave Manchester United if an offer is made after just one season back at Old Trafford.
The Portugal international has yet to return to training with United and is not part of their tour of Thailand and Australia, which has been put down to family reasons.
Ronaldo scored a team-leading 24 goals in all competitions last season, but his homecoming did not go to plan as United registered their lowest Premier League points tally.
United endured a fifth successive season without silverware and finished down in sixth, meaning no Champions League football in the 2022-23 campaign.
That is said to be the reason why Ronaldo is seeking a new challenge, and Zambrotta has backed the 37-year-old to continue firing wherever he plies his trade.
"Ronaldo is a player who makes a difference at the moment. We have seen it. The numbers say this," Zambrotta said.
"Which team can be right for him? I don't know. Definitely a team fighting for the Champions League, a team fighting for many goals.
"Because I am sure that he always wants to be competitive, until he retires. And I still think Ronaldo is a goal machine any team he plays for."
Ronaldo is the Champions League's all-time leading scorer with 140 goals and has won the competition four times with Real Madrid and once with United in his previous spell.
He scored six goals in last season's competition but could not help United further than the last-16 stage, where they were eliminated over two legs by Atletico Madrid.
However, while United endured a dreadful campaign under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Ralf Rangnick, Zambrotta does not feel Ronaldo was to blame.
"Let's say that he also needs team-mates," said Zambrotta, who represented the likes of Juve, Barcelona and Milan, while helping Italy to World Cup glory in 2006.
"Even when Ronaldo was criticised at Juve, and they weren't able to move forward in the Champions League, he has always made the difference from a numerical point of view.
"The data, the numbers say this. You can't think of going against the numbers. And then you may like him, or you may not like him – this is another kind of speech.
"But he has always been a player who has always made the difference from that point of view."
Ronaldo is not the only big-name attacker potentially on the move this window, with Robert Lewandowski also eager to move on from Bayern Munich.
Lewandowski scored 50 goals in 46 games in all competitions last season in his second-best scoring campaign across eight years with Bayern, behind the 55 netted in 2019-20.
The prolific striker has less than 12 months to run on his contract and has made no secret of his desire to leave, with Barcelona this week confirming an offer has been tabled.
It could lead to a bitter split between Bayern and Lewandowski but, like with Ronaldo, Zambrotta can understand why the player wants out.
"I have always been used to not judging anyone because I don't know the personal stories and current events of each case," he said.
"Everyone can find themselves in a certain moment of their life or career in which they need to change because they need new motivations, new stimuli.
"He needs a change of scenery, to see new faces, to stay in another stadium, to meet new mates.
"Maybe at that moment, it was perhaps the right one for a player, so it doesn't affect me and most likely [Lewandowski] wants to change the air. That's all."
Vardy eyes 100-point season after Leicester's title win
Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.
The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.
Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.
With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.
“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it's a graft. Not many days off, I'll tell you that.
“The lads - they've given it all. Thoroughly deserved, and I'm glad we've had 5000 to come and celebrate with us. It's not like it's 20 minutes up the road."
After a run of just three victories from nine games in the league between mid-February and April, Leicester have now won each of their last three outings.
Maresca has praised his players for their hard work in what he labelled a “tough season”.
“Fantastic, it's been a fantastic season. The Championship is a tough season and very intense, but I'm very happy," said Maresca.
"Now it's time to enjoy the work of the season to bring this special club back to the Premier League. We deserve it.
“The last two days they have been fantastic. We got promoted, but it was difficult in game preparation. But we used all of today to prepare for the game, the morning and afternoon. It was good.”
Barcelona 4-2 Valencia: Lewandowski hat-trick leads Barca to 4-2 win over 10-man Valencia
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half hat-trick to help his side fight back to claim a hard-fought 4-2 win over Valencia, who were leading 2-1 when they were reduced to 10 men just before the break.
Fermin Lopez's header from a Raphinha cross put Barca in front after 22 minutes, but Valencia's Hugo Duro struck in the 27th and Pepelu scored from the spot after a foul by Ronald Araujo 11 minutes later to give the visitors the lead.
But after Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili saw red for a handball outside the box before the break, Xavi's side dominated and Lewandowski scored with two headers from corners in the 49th and 82nd minutes before getting his treble with a free-kick in added time.
The win postponed Real Madrid's almost inevitable LaLiga title celebrations for a couple of weeks as Carlo Ancelotti's side sit atop the standings on 84 points.
Barcelona moved back to second in LaLiga on Monday with 73 points as they leapfrogged surprise package Girona, who are third with 71. Those two teams will meet in a Catalonia derby on Saturday.
Data debrief
Barcelona conceded two goals in the first half of a home game for the second time this season, after also doing so against Girona in LaLiga in December 2023.
However, Lewandowski's goals have been invaluable to La Blaugrana this season as he's earned 17 points with his 16 goals in the league.
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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