Cristiano Ronaldo ‘VETOED’ Man Utd’s move for Antonio Conte as club ‘made up Zidane link to keep him sweet’

CRISTIANO RONALDO opposed Manchester United appointing Antonio Conte as manager, according to reports.

Conte, 52, was being considered as a possible successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before the Norwegian was sacked in November.

AFP

Links to Zinedine Zidane were reportedly manufactured to appease Cristiano Ronaldo[/caption]

Reuters

Ronaldo voiced his reservations about appointing Antonio Conte[/caption]

The board decided the Italian would not be suited to taking over at Old Trafford but only after hearing input from Ronaldo.

According to the Manchester Evening News, Ronaldo’s reservations about appointing Conte were fed back to the board.

As well as Conte being touted as a possible replacement for Solskjaer, former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was also said to be in the mix.

But it is now claimed his name was only mentioned to appease Ronaldo.

CR7 enjoyed great success playing under Zidane, winning La Liga and the Champions League on three occasions.

Regardless, Ronaldo did not need to worry about Conte’s arrival as he ended up being hired by Tottenham 19 days before Solskjaer got the boot.

Now United are closing in on the appointment of another manager – Erik ten Hag.

The Ajax boss is believed to have verbally agreed a deal in principle to take over from Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season.

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He will sign a four-year deal and could look to make Ajax star Anthony his first signing.

RB Leipzig hotshot Christopher Nkunku is also a target of the Dutchman and Rangnick, who is due to move upstairs at Old Trafford, could use his connections with the German club to secure a deal.