Cristiano Ronaldo has been dropped by manager Erik ten Hag and will not be part of Manchester United’s squad for Saturday’s game against Chelsea in the Premier League.
Ronaldo stormed down the tunnel in the final moments of United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday after he was left on the bench by Ten Hag, taking the shine off what was an impressive team performance.
Speaking after the match, the United manager said that he would “deal” with Ronaldo following his early exit and Ten Hag has now made the decision that the 37-year-old will not be part of his plans ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge.
The United hierarchy have fully backed Ten Hag and a statement from the club read: “Cristiano will not be part of the Manchester United squad for this Saturday’s game against Chelsea. The rest of the squad is fully focused on preparing for that fixture.”
Ronaldo will not train with the United squad for the next three days ahead of the match against Chelsea, which comes following the club’s best performance of the season so far in the victory over Spurs at Old Trafford.
United’s statement also comes amid reports that Ronaldo refused to come on against Tottenham, after the forward was demoted to the bench following two starts without a goal against Omonia in the Europa League and Newcastle in the Premier League.
Ronaldo returned to United last summer, 11 years after leaving the club to sign for Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee, but his second spell at Old Trafford has been turbulent.
The Portgual international agitated for a move this summer following United’s worst ever Premier League season and failure to qualify for the Champions League but the six-time Ballon d’Or winner was unable to find a new club.
Ronaldo did not travel with United on their pre-season tour of Australia and Thailand and his first start of the campaign ended in an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Brentford.
Ten Hag then dropped Ronaldo to the bench and although he scored his 700th club goal earlier this month following a substitute appearance against Everton, he was frustrated to be brought off during last weekend’s 0-0 draw against Newcastle after being handed a rare Premier League start.
After the win over Tottenham was overshadowed by Ronaldo’s exit, Ten Hag told reporters: “I don’t pay attention to that, I will deal with that tomorrow. I want to keep the focus on the team, it was a magnificent performance from all the 11 players.
“It was a performance also from the subs that came on. It was a squad performance. We deal with that tomorrow. What we have seen today was 11 players who defend, 11 players who attack, there was a lot of dynamic.
“I am pleased with that. I will not say I am satisfied because good is not good enough, that has to be the standard at Manchester United.”
Kaynak: briturkish.com
