Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Bold Career Admission As Man United Faces Stiff Competition

Cristiano Ronaldo is not leaving the sport yet and wants to continue winning until the end of his career.

The next season marks Ronaldo’s 20th year as a professional soccer player. At 37 years old, he doesn’t picture himself retiring anytime soon. In fact, he even hopes to prolong his career and maintain the same level of competitiveness.

For Ronaldo, he will continue playing professionally for another “four or five” years with the same goal in mind—keep winning.

“It’s hard to say that I don’t want to win more,” Ronaldo said during an interview with Dazn. “If I’m at a club and I’m part of a national team that gives me the opportunity to win more, then why not?”

“I know that I’m not going to be playing for many more years, hopefully about four or five more years, we’ll see,” he continued. “But I want to win more.”

Ronaldo’s ferocious drive for winning has been a staple in his career, and his array of accolades speaks for itself. Now that he has set a tentative timeframe for himself, the Manchester United striker is being smart about maintaining a balanced playing style.

"My life has been a very beautiful journey,” the five-time Ballon d’Or winner stressed. “I have left my mark everywhere I've been. I don't think there's any player in history who can reach, well, the numbers he can reach, but to have that pride of saying 'wherever I've been, I've left my mark'. And that makes me happy.”

"You have to be intelligent and say that when you are eight [years old], 20 or 25, it's not the same as being 35,” he added. “That's maturity, experience, the intelligence to understand that maybe you lose some things, but you pick up other things and have the right balance to be able to continue competing and be at the highest level."

As things stand, Manchester United is now sitting at the fourth spot in the English Premier League standings. However, the club is well aware that a tug of war looms as Arsenal and Tottenham are also gunning for a place in the top four.

“Of course, everyone wants to play in the Champions League every season, but we also have to be realistic,” Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick told the club’s official website. “When I came, I think we were 8th in the table and trailing by quite a few points. Right now, we are fourth and we have to be aware that a couple of teams have played two or three games fewer than us so far.”

“Also we have to be fully aware that there will be big games coming up in March and April, also direct games against Tottenham, Arsenal and a few others who are also chasing for that fourth place,” he added.