Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Ten Hag fired warning over what Ronaldo is about to do, as Man Utd boss told he’ll regret big decision

Man Utd striker Cristiano Ronaldo and manager Erik ten Hag

Erik ten Hag has been urged to reconsider his decision on the future of Man Utd legend Cristiano Ronaldo by an opposing manager.

Ronaldo, 37, sought pastures new last summer. The veteran striker wanted to continue his Champions League legacy and Manchester United’s sixth-placed finish last season ensured he couldn’t do that at Old Trafford.

However, the only concrete offer to emerge was from Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal.

Ronaldo opted to stay, though has fallen out of favour under new boss Erik ten Hag.

Despite top scoring for United across all competitions last season with 24 goals, Ten Hag has favoured Marcus Rashford up top.

Even worse news for Ronaldo is the return to fitness of Anthony Martial.

The Frenchman was Ten Hag’s number one choice at centre-forward in pre-season prior to picking up an injury.

He scored in each of his first three pre-season matches and bagged a brace against Man City at the weekend in a bright cameo off the bench.

That led to a report from the Telegraph claiming Ten Hag has performed a U-turn on Ronaldo.

Ten Hag wants rid of Ronaldo?

The Dutch boss was against losing such a valuable option up front over the summer. However, the newspaper now claim he’s open to parting ways in January if a suitable offer arrives.

News of that development, along with Ronaldo’s lack of gametime this season, has reached the manager of United’s Europa League opponents on Thursday – Neil Lennon.

The former Celtic boss now manages Cypriot side Omonia. United travel to Cyprus for a 5:45pm kick-off on Thursday evening.

Speaking ahead of the contest – in which Ronaldo may well start – Lennon stressed United “will need” Ronaldo over the course of the season.

Due to the World Cup, the fixture list this year is more congested than ever. Between now and the World Cup in late-November for example, Man Utd play twice a week every week.

Lennon also claimed Ronaldo can’t be kept down for long and once he regains full fitness, he’ll be ready to have another “bumper season” if given the chance.

“Man Utd will need Cristiano Ronaldo” – Lennon

“I understand in the sense why he hasn’t been playing.” said Lennon. “But you can’t keep him out [of the team] for long.

“Over the course of the season, Manchester United will need Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Once he hits his match fitness then he could have another bumper season.

“The fact that he’s going to be here in this stadium, and I’ll get to see him again live and close up is fantastic because he’s one of the greatest players of all time, so it’s very, very special.

“We should pay tribute to him because him and [Lionel] Messi are two of the greatest of any generation.

“He may not be around for too much longer, although the way he keeps on talking, he wants to keep on playing which is amazing.

“It’ll be a great thrill to see him on the pitch here in Cyprus. To have one of the biggest names here will be a fantastic occasion and I hope we rise to the occasion on the night.”

Ten Hag clarifies Ronaldo situation

Ten Hag also spoke about Ronaldo in his press conference ahead of the Europa clash.

On whether Ronaldo’s potential exit and/or apparent unhappiness at his situation was part of the reason he didn’t play against City, Ten Hag said: “I can’t see that relation, that he is not coming on when we are 4-0 down, I did not bring him on out of respect.

“It has nothing to do with the future or January. I don’t see him as unhappy. He is happy, training well and enjoying.”

Later clarifying that Ronaldo is happy at Man Utd, as opposed to happy he’s not being selected, Ten Hag added: “He’s not happy that he didn’t play Sunday, don’t get me wrong.

“But the question was about his mood in training, where he’s happy. Of course, he wants to play and he’s p***** off when he’s not playing.”

Ten Hag continued: “It’s always about, you live by the day, you line up the strongest team you had, but there are differences and no one is the same in the team.

“I treat everyone with respect, but they have all different backgrounds, so I have to treat players to get the best out of them.

“When you are here, when you are happy, satisfied on the bench, this is not the club you have to be [at].

“Cristiano is really competitive. He is not happy when he is not playing, but I have to repeat, maybe you didn’t hear, he is training well.

“He is in a good mood, he is motivated and he gives his best and that is what we expect.”

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