Cristiano Ronaldo has left Michael Owen baffled by the Man Utd icon's retirement plans

Cristiano Ronaldo has strongly denied speculation he could enter the world of football coaching after retiring, despite recent comments from Michael Owen that he could take charge of Manchester United or Portugal.

The famous player, who will celebrate his 40th birthday in February, has been the subject of widespread curiosity about his next step after an illustrious playing career.

Having recently set up a YouTube channel, Ronaldo's global fame continues to bring him lucrative endorsement deals. However, Owen has hinted at a potential managerial future for him, saying: “Just from the outside looking in, it looks like he might want to be on the sidelines leading Portugal like he did at Euro 2016,” in an interview with Goal.

“He looks like a coach, he looks like he wants to coach, so he might want to go down that path. The Portugal coach job, probably in the future, we might have his name on it, you never know.”

Owen added: “Of course, if he does well then big teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid would consider him.”

However, in a candid interview with Rio Ferdinand on his own YouTube platform a week later, Ronaldo said the exact opposite, insisting that coaching was not in his sights and highlighting his issues with the work ethic of the current generation of players.

He said: “For me it will be difficult one day to be a coach, because I have no passion for this generation, it is difficult especially in football, because they do not take into account the advice of our experience.

“They think they know everything, they think phones will give you a good education, TikTok, Instagram. I have other things to do, another chapter of my life which is a business aspect that I am passionate about.

“It will be a challenge for me and I will learn other areas that I don't know, I will get more involved in my business and I think that will be a good thing.”

Ronaldo has already confirmed that he will retire with his current club in Saudi Arabia. “I don't know if I will retire soon, in two or three years… but I will probably retire here at Al-Nassr,” Ronaldo told Portuguese TV channel NOW. “I am very happy at this club, I feel good in this country too. I am happy to play in Saudi Arabia and I want to continue.”

But Portugal fans will not have the chance to say goodbye, with Ronaldo saying he will leave without notice: “When I leave the national team I will not tell anyone, it will be a very spontaneous decision on my part.”