Ronaldo’s desire to leave Manchester this summer has been well documented. The Portuguese missed United’s entire international pre-season tour.
The 37-year-old was absent last Saturday when Manchester United lost to Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford. But he then returned to action for the first time on Sunday vs Ray Vallecano, but left the ground before the full-time whistle after being taken off at half-time.
Manchester United claimed afterwards that CR7 had permission to do so. However, Erik ten Hag has since come out and stated he was not happy with Ronaldo leaving early, suggesting permission was not actually given.
The forward has since declared himself fit to feature vs Brighton on Sunday, which is good news for Manchester United as Anthony Martial is out injured.
However, it still looks as though Ronaldo wants to leave United, and is currently only there because no top club wants to sign him.
And given Ten Hag is trying to rebuild United after years of mismanagement and inflated egos, having that sort of presence in a dressing room is unlikely to help.
“It’s not that Ronaldo can’t play in a [Erik] Ten Hag team. He can play in any team. Ronny will always score you goals. But my personal view is that United aren’t ready to challenge for the title now, so the aim has to be to build a team that can win the league in the next three to four years, and you have to plan for that.
“If the reports are true that Cristiano wants to leave the club, then United should allow him to go and get a No.9 in who is going to be there for the next three or four years and really help them build a team that can be successful. Ten Hag has to be given time to do it.”
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