Cristiano Ronaldo: Man Utd star tipped to become club’s next manager | OneFootball

While of course it is not an exact science, there are always some footballers who seem destined for a managerial career.

Indeed, the likes of Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola - two deep thinkers of the game - resembled (towards the end of their careers) working out a notice at one job in the build-up to another.

One player who it's hard to imagine moving into such a world, however, is Cristiano Ronaldo.

Although his relentless drive to keep breaking all manner of records shows no signs of slowing down, the commercial brand the 36-year-old carries just seems too big to imagine him pitching up at a club not in the true elite, ala Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard.

Ronaldo himself has spoken about how he wants to continue growing his projects away from football when his playing days are through, although the sight of him on the touchline at the Euro 2016 final will live long in the memory.

Still, following his return to Manchester United, he has been tipped to one day take over at Old Trafford.

Speaking on talkSPORT, former Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood backed him for the role.

“We’ve seen him do it on the international stage, most recently at the Euros, barking out orders," he said.

"That boy will be a manager 100 per cent.

"I would have a bet on him being Manchester United manager in 18 months.

"Whenever Ronaldo finishes playing I think he will become a manager, it will be an automatic choice.

“If they win the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, any of those trophies, then Solskjaer keeps his job, but if they don’t win anything I think they’ve got a manager there in the making.

"He could bring an experienced coach in there with him – someone like Carlos Queiroz – as he’ll know plenty of them, and I can see him being a manager at Man United in the future.

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“He’s almost coaching now; you saw it at the weekend during the warm-up whispering in Varane’s and Maguire’s ears, but I don’t think it’s that he needs the captain’s armband to be a leader, he leads by example anyway.

"He did when he was at United the first time it’s just now he’s being more vocal with it.”

While there is certainly precedent for United appointing famous former players, this call does seem somewhat strange.