According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United are prepared to instruct Cristiano Ronaldo not to return to their training ground at Carrington after his exploits at the World Cup end. It is believed that this will be just the first step taken by the club in wake of Ronaldo’s indiscretion earlier this week, when he delivered a scathing assessment of the club and everything that has, or more precisely, has not been done at Old Trafford since he first left the club in 2009.
Ronaldo spent nine seasons with Real Madrid and three more with Juventus, and as one of the most successful players of all time, he returned to United in the belief he was to be the man to lead the team under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer up the old paths of glory to new heights.
However, things obviously worked out differently. Solskjaer was quickly sacked and replaced first by Ralf Rangnick in a club move which Ronaldo didn’t approve of, and now the team is being commanded by Erik ten Hag who clearly doesn’t see the 37-year-old five-time Ballon d’Or winner as an important part of his plans.
Ten Hag wanted to introduce Ronaldo for the final few minutes of United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur a couple of weeks ago, but the Portugal captain refused to come on in such circumstances and stormed down the tunnel instead. It was something Ronaldo admits regretting, but he simply doesn’t want such a role at the club.
Manchester United, in turn, are making it clear that they have no intention of pleasing Ronaldo’s ego, and that actions such as the disappointed superstar took when he gave that interview warrant consequences in accordance with their severity.
Ronaldo has travelled to Qatar with Portugal and the whole issue will obviously be put on hold until his exploits there end, but it will be interesting to see what happens then.
It’s true that Manchester United are prepared to instruct Cristiano Ronaldo not to return to Carrington after World Cup, this is the plan as things stand. 🚨🔴 #MUFC
This is one of the first steps after the interview — more will follow in the next days. pic.twitter.com/B4gwNUJ54c
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 18, 2022
