No surprise if Ronaldo leaves United

MANCHESTER United’s 3-1 win over Brentford last week was overshadowed by the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo threw a tantrum after being substituted by manager Ralf Rangnick late in the second half.

Despite nearing his 37th birthday, it’s quite evident Ronaldo continues to want to play every minute of every game for his team.

Most players his age would be content to play a bit-part role but that’s clearly not the case for the Portugal national team captain.

With United not looking like a side that can win major silverware any time soon, Ronaldo may also look for a new club at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo also now faces a challenge to help Portugal qualify for the World Cup this year. Portugal and Italy have been drawn in the same bracket of European play-offs.

This means there is no chance of both Portugal and Italy qualifying for the World Cup.

Portugal’s first challenge will be to overcome Turkey while Italy will have to try and beat North Macedonia.

Should the two nations win their first play-off as is expected, they will face each other for a place in the World Cup.

Grealish failing to spark at Manchester City

Manchester City may be easing to the Premier League title but one player who is not living up to expectations for them so far this season is Jack Grealish.

City had one of their more frustrating results last weekend as they played out to a 1-1 draw with Southampton. Pep Guardiola would have been expecting Grealish to deliver but he failed to do so.

Grealish joined the Citizens from Aston Villa for £100 million (about R2.065 billion).

There were heavy expectations on him after he became England’s most expensive player.

His exploits for boyhood club Villa over the past two seasons earned him comparisons to England football legend David Beckham.

The 26-year-old’s move to City was expected to help him take his career to the next level and win trophies. Instead, it appears that he has gone backwards as compared to how he was when he played for Villa last season.

Grealish has scored two goals for City this season but they came in games where City were already set to win.

He was brought into the City side to be a match winner and game changer.

He is not doing that. Guardiola will have to have serious discussions about upping Grealish’s output at the end of the season.