Man Utd will NOT stand in Cristiano Ronaldo's way if he wants to leave the club

Manchester United will let Cristiano Ronaldo walk out this summer if he makes it clear that he wants to leave Old Trafford.

After departing Old Trafford 12 years earlier, Ronaldo arrived back at United to plenty of fanfare on deadline day in the summer transfer window.

His return hasn't gone as expected though, with the 37-year-old showing signs of frustration throughout a difficult campaign for United so far.

The Mirror have reported that Manchester United will not stand in Ronaldo's way if their Portuguese superstar demands to leave this summer.

It's believed that the 37-year-old is ready to quit the club if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.

United currently occupy the final Champions League spot, though they are just one point ahead of West Ham, while Arsenal, Tottenham and Wolves could all go ahead if they win their respective games in hand.

The club has spent north of £900million on players over the past nine years, but have failed to mount a credible title challenge over the period.

Ronaldo's arrival in the summer was meant to address the issue but after starting the season on the front foot and scoring crucial late winners in the Champions League against Villarreal and Atalanta - and an injury time equaliser against the latter- the goals have dried up for him.

He failed to score in six straight games before his brilliant finish in the 2-0 victory over Brighton.

While he remains United's top scorer with 15 goals, there's said to be a 'growing acceptance' within the club that bringing Ronaldo back 'was an error of judgement' driven by commercial factors and stopping him from joining rivals Manchester City.

Ronaldo has been visibly frustrated by United's performances this season, storming down the tunnel on several occasions while he also started on the bench for games against Chelsea, Everton and Burnley.

There have also been issues off the field, with reports of a power struggle over the Manchester United captaincy in recent times.

Ronaldo and Maguire have been in conversation with interim boss Ralf Rangnick about a change of skipper for the rest of this season.

While the idea behind 37-year-old Ronaldo taking the armband is to take pressure off Maguire, the England international is reluctant to agree as he doesn't want to lose the captaincy permanently.