Inter Miami 'eye Cristiano Ronaldo as Gonzalo Higuain replacement'

Inter Miami are reportedly actively pursuing Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, with the MLS outfit keen to sign the attacker as a replacement for Gonzalo Higuain.

Last week, Higuain announced that he would be retiring from football at the end of the MLS campaign, which will put Inter Miami in the market for a replacement for the experienced striker.

According to the Daily Star, the North American club are keen to bring in Ronaldo and would be prepared to pay the 37-year-old a lucrative salary of £30m a year to secure his services.

The report claims that Phil Neville's side are not willing to pay a transfer fee for the forward, but Man United would want at least £10m to consider letting him leave during the January market.

Ronaldo's future is again being called into question, as the experienced striker is struggling to break his way into Erik ten Hag's preferred starting side.

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Galatasaray are believed to be keen on the Portuguese, with the Turkish giants thought to be lining up a mid-season move.

Ronaldo was strongly linked with a move away from Old Trafford over the summer, but the transfer window closed with him still at Old Trafford despite the constant speculation.

The experienced forward has only started one Premier League match in 2022-23, while he has scored just once in all competitions - a penalty against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League.

A host of clubs, including Bayern Munich, were linked with Ronaldo over the summer, with the former Sporting Lisbon youngster allegedly informing Man United at the start of July of his desire to depart.

However, the German club's CEO Oliver Kahn recently said that the Munich giants "quickly dismissed" a possible deal, telling Bild: "We briefly discussed Ronaldo at Bayern and [Borussia] Dortmund probably did too. We also see the big picture of the Bundesliga.

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"Of course, superstars like Ronaldo are an important factor in attracting attention to the league. He is one of the greatest of the last decade. But we quickly dismissed that."

Ronaldo was an unused substitute in the Manchester derby last weekend, with Ten Hag claiming that he did not use him off the bench 'out of respect for his career'.

"I didn't bring him on out of respect for his big career. And the other thing, there was then the advantage I could bring Antony Martial on. He needs the minutes but I don't want to point it out like that," Ten Hag told reporters.

Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes against Omonia in the Europa League on Thursday but is expected to be back on the bench against Everton in the Premier League on Sunday.

The forward's contract at Old Trafford is due to expire at the end of June, although there is an option for the 20-time English champions to extend the agreement for a further 12 months.