Cristiano Ronaldo aims for 1,000 career goals before retirement
Cristiano Ronaldo has drawn a line in the sand. The Portuguese icon has hinted he will retire at the end of the 2026/27 season – but only after chasing one last, almost absurd milestone: 1,000 career goals.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Vogue about his upcoming wedding to Georgina Rodriguez, Ronaldo framed the final chapter of his career around one word – legacy. He wants it to be “spectacular”. He wants to go out on his terms.
Right now, the numbers are staggering. According to BBC Sport, Ronaldo sits on 976 career goals. That leaves him 24 short of the four-figure mark that once sounded like fantasy even for the most ruthless of finishers.
Maintain the sort of output he managed in the 2025/26 Saudi Pro League season – 28 goals – and the target is not just romantic, it’s realistic. One more prolific campaign and the 41-year-old will stretch his record book even further.
Of those 976 goals, 103 came in the Premier League. That’s 10.6 per cent of his total, scored across two spells at Manchester United, from 2003 to 2009 and again between 2021 and 2022.
Premier League Scoring
At Old Trafford, that haul puts him in elite company. United’s all-time Premier League scorers’ list reads:
- Wayne Rooney – 183
- Ryan Giggs – 109
- Paul Scholes – 107
- Cristiano Ronaldo – 103
- Ruud van Nistelrooy – 95
Fourth on that chart, Ronaldo’s first stint in Manchester brought three Premier League titles, two EFL Cups, one Champions League and one FA Cup. A 1,000-goal farewell would be a suitably audacious full stop to one of the defining careers in modern football – and for many, to the greatest forward the Premier League has ever seen.
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While Ronaldo plots his exit on his own timeline, Tottenham are living through a very different kind of transition.
Roberto De Zerbi’s overhaul in north London has accelerated sharply over the weekend. Cristian Romero, club captain in 2025/26 and a pillar of their defence, has left for Atletico Madrid. Djed Spence has packed his bags for Inter Milan. Now Guglielmo Vicario is poised to follow them out of the door, with reports in Italy and England indicating the goalkeeper will join Juventus on loan.
Vicario’s departure would be more than just another name off the squad list. It underlines how far Spurs have moved from the side that lifted the UEFA Europa League in May 2025, when they beat Manchester United in Bilbao.
Since that night, the club have burned through managers at a remarkable rate – three in 15 months. Six of the 15 players used by Ange Postecoglou in that final have now gone.
The break-up has been gradual but relentless. Son Heung-Min traded London for Los Angeles last August, signing for LAFC. Brennan Johnson, the match-winner in Bilbao, initially crossed the capital to Crystal Palace in January and has now switched again, this time to Everton, with Dwight McNeil heading to Spurs. Yves Bissouma walked away at the end of his contract this summer.
The spine of that Europa League triumph has been ripped out. De Zerbi is clearly being backed to build something very different.
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At the other end of the Premier League, Manchester City are still adding layers to a squad already built to dominate.
Multiple outlets, including BBC Sport, report that City are in talks to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille. The Moroccan midfielder, still a teenager, lit up the 2026 World Cup for the Atlas Lions and has since been tracked by Europe’s elite.
Enzo Maresca didn’t hide City’s intentions after their recent defeat, stressing that the club’s transfer plans were not a knee-jerk reaction.
“We knew already before the game the things that we need to do [in the transfer window],” the Italian said. “It is not because we lost the game. We are quite clear. For sure, we are going to do something before the transfer window closes.”
Lille head coach Davide Ancelotti has already admitted the inevitable: Bouaddi is on plenty of shortlists.
“Of course, there are negotiations. Many clubs are interested in him,” he said. “He's a very, very good player and I hope he'll stay with us.”
Hope is one thing. Holding off City when they move decisively is something else entirely.
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Morgan Rogers needed just 10 minutes to introduce himself properly to Chelsea.
On his debut in a 3-1 pre-season win over Real Sociedad, the forward – signed from Aston Villa – scored his first goal for the club and offered a glimpse of why Chelsea moved for him this summer.
For Rogers, this is more than a transfer. It’s the chance to step into a shirt he grew up watching dominate.
“Chelsea is a club that wants to win things,” the 24-year-old told Sky Sports. “It's a club that I've always grown up watching win titles, win Champions Leagues and I want to be in teams that do that as well.
“The players - the [Eden] Hazards, the [Didier] Drogbas, the [Frank] Lampards coming through when I was growing up watching football. It's a massive team and they were always winning and competing for titles and I want to be in teams that do that here.”
The real examination starts in a week. Chelsea open their Premier League campaign with a short trip across west London to face Fulham. That is where early impressions turn into hard judgments.
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On Merseyside, Liverpool supporters finally got a first look at two of the most intriguing additions to Arne Slot’s squad.
Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo both featured in the 2-0 pre-season victory over Como, each playing 45 minutes. Jacquet, signed from Rennes, capped his first appearance at Anfield with a goal just before half-time. Araujo, on loan from Barcelona, anchored the back line after the interval.
Both are expected to compete for a starting place in front of Alisson, and the Brazilian goalkeeper liked what he saw.
“Both of them played really, really well,” Alisson said. “Jeremy had a great first half, great on the ball, great defending and controlling the space in behind and in front of him as well. A great performance.
“Ronald as well had a really good game in the second half. It is really good to have a strong centre-back to help the team in depth as well. That's what we need if we want to compete for trophies this season.
“That's what we want, that's the mentality of Liverpool players. Playing alongside Virgil (van Dijk) I think is a great thing for them as well."
Liverpool’s rebuild will be judged on whether it can keep pace with City and the rest over nine unforgiving months. With fresh steel in front of Alisson and Van Dijk, they look determined to find out.
