Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has said that he expects Cristiano Ronaldo to finish his career with Los Blancos.

During recent times, Ronaldo has been linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu, with reports suggesting that PSG are lining up a move for him or that he could be set for a return to Manchester United.

Zidane, however, only sees the 32-year old remaining at Madrid, with whom he has become the clubs record goal scorer and also won 14 major trophies.

Zidane ‘can’t imagine’ a Real Madrid without CR7

“He’s a Madrid player and he wants to finish his career here. I don’t see him playing anywhere else,” the 45-year-old said in a recent press conference.

Ronaldo has been arguably Real’s best player since he arrived at the club from United in 2009, and it is very hard to see the side willing to part ways with the footballing icon, and five times Ballon d’Or winner, just yet.

However, Ronaldo is now well into his 30s and his performances are declining – and will continue to decline as he continues to age.

Madrid will, therefore, need to start preparing for life without the Portuguese, and in the process, they may have to make some difficult decisions to make, such as whether he should remain the focal point of the team going forward.

How long can Ronaldo keep going?

It remains to be seen whether Ronaldo will be happy with this. As much as he has a pure love of the game, he also enjoys being in the media spotlight and being the main player for his side, so questions remain as to whether he would be willing to see his influence within the Real first team wane.

Should the club agree to him continuing to have an influential role within first team affairs, and if he can keep up a high standard of performances, it’s relatively easy to imagine that Ronaldo will see out his career with the Spanish giants.

CR7 is one of the hardest workers in world football; he is known to be the first one to arrive at training and the last one to leave, and this could help him to prolong his career beyond that of the average footballer.