Sporting Lisbon and Chelsea early favourites to land Cristiano Ronaldo

The bookies have the Portuguese giants at 3/1, with Chelsea just behind at 4/1 to be Ronaldo’s club by the end of the January transfer window.

Any MLS club is third favourite at 6/1, with Newcastle lurking just behind at 15/2. A surprise return to Real Madrid is at 8/1 and any Saudi club is at (10/1).

The European giants of Bayern Munich (10/1), Napoli (12/1), AC Milan (16/1), Roma (16/1) and PSG (18/1) are also in the queue. Even Arsenal have snuck in at 16/1.

Planet Sport looks at Ronaldo’s options.

Sporting Lisbon (3/1)

Ronaldo became a global star during his first period with United but it was Sporting that helped cultivate his early talent.

The forward has regularly been linked with a return to the club he left aged 18 and retains a strong connection with the Primeira Liga side, who have a section dedicated to him in their museum and renamed their academy training facilities after him.

The player’s mother, Dolores Aveiro, has previously said she wants to eventually see him back playing for the Lisbon club.

Chelsea (4/1)

While it never got beyond initial conversations over the summer, Chelsea sounded Ronaldo out about a potential switch that the Portugal ace was reportedly open to.

Former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel was not thought to be keen on the switch but he is long gone and with successor Graham Potter suffering a rocky start at Stamford Bridge, the idea could once again appeal to Todd Boehly’s ownership group.

Money should not be a major stumbling block and if the opportunity arose, the chance to end his Premier League journey on a high could be irresistible.

Major League Soccer (6/1)

A number of European football’s biggest names have taken up the option of seeing out their days in the United States, with the…