“I was surprised, to be honest. He had a good season last season in a poorly performing team. I sort of imagined, at his age, that he would be looking to finish his career at United. So when the news broke, it surprised me, and it’s obviously not coming at a great time,” Chadwick told Caught Offside.
He added: “There’s a bit more positivity around the club with pre-season starting under the new manager, the new signing Tyrell Malacia coming in, and now this has sort of put a cloud over it all.
“It’s disappointing, but I can understand he will want to play in the Champions League. Maybe it’s come at the right time. Ten Hag will want to put his own stamp on the team, and maybe this is a chance to do that. Obviously, Ronaldo is an icon of the game, but it could be the right time for him to go and to allow Ten Hag to put his own philosophy in place.”