'CR7 not welcome': Atletico Madrid fans protest potential signing of Cristiano Ronaldo

Atletico Madrid fans have urged the club to rule out signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, displaying a protest at a pre-season friendly against Numancia on Wednesday at Estadio Burgo de Osma in Soria, Spain.

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The rumours of Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival at Atletico Madrid continue, even though club President Enrique Cerezo said that it was 'impossible'. The 37-year-old, who has expressed his desire to leave Old Trafford for a shot at Champions League football, has not featured for the Red Devils during their pre-season and only returned to the Carrington training ground this week.

Atletico Madrid has been one of the clubs where Ronaldo has been rumoured to move. The question of whether Los Rojiblancos supporters would accept a player who had previously excelled for rival Real Madrid has been firmly answered. First, fans vocally denounced the Portuguese talisman's signing on Twitter, and on Tuesday night, president Enrique Cerezo called the rumours "fabricated." He added that the move was virtually difficult.

This sentiment, however, persisted into Wednesday, when the official Atletico Madrid fan clubs published a letter expressing their disapproval of the signing. "In light of the possibility of signing Cristiano Ronaldo, if it is more than a simple rumour without any basis, we express our absolute rejection of his hypothetical joining of our club."

"The aforementioned player represents the antithesis of the values that constitute the hallmarks of our Atleti, such as the effort, generosity, modesty and humility of those who want to defend our values," the statement added.

"Even in the highly unlikely hypothetical case that a player in steep decline such as Cristiano Ronaldo could guarantee us a trophy, we wouldn't accept his signing. The sense of being a part of our Atletico feeling isn't within his reach, unfortunately for him, and as such, he could never receive our affection or recognition. As such, we ask the club to reject his possible signing if it has indeed been considered at any time," the statement concluded.

A few hours later, Diego Simeone's side also opened their pre-season against Numancia, where fans unfurled a banner reading 'CR7 not welcome'. Protests from angry Atletico Madrid fans came even as rumours suggested a possible departure of Frenchman Antoine Grizmann and with it the arrival of Ronaldo.

Ronaldo had a successful spell playing with Atletico's city rivals Real Madrid and had a fractious relationship with their fans during his time in Spain. The Portuguese superstar also has a history of scoring important goals against Atletico, including the winning penalty in the 2016 Champions League final.

While Ronaldo's arrival seems slim anyway, these events should confirm that the Portugal international's signing would perhaps be a bad idea. Simeone relies on the connection between his team and their fans to create the conditions for success. A split with the fanbase that CR7's signing would cause could damage any hope of that.