The Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United saga took a dramatic turn on Thursday when the club announced in an official statement that the Portuguese talisman will not be a part of the squad for Saturday’s Premier League game against Chelsea.
The club’s official statement was short and provided no explanation on why this step was taken. “Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of the Manchester United squad for this Saturday’s Premier League game against Chelsea. The rest of the squad is fully focused on preparing for that fixture,” the statement read.
Earlier, a report from The Athletic claimed that the Portugal international had refused to come on as a substitute in United’s midweek fixture against Tottenham and it is now expected that he will be made to train alone.
Official Man United statement on Cristiano Ronaldo 🚨🔴 #MUFC
“Cristiano will not be part of the Man United team for this Saturday’s game against Chelsea. Rest of the squad is fully focused on preparing for that fixture”. pic.twitter.com/NdztshOuSf
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 20, 2022
Against Tottenham, Ronaldo, who started on the bench for the home team, was seen walking back inside the ground tunnel before the referee had even blown the final whistle.
United manager Erik Ten Hag had stated after the match that he will deal with the Ronaldo situation on Thursday. “I don’t pay attention today, we will deal with that tomorrow,” he said. “I want to focus on this team, on these 11 players.
This wasn’t the first time that the Champions League record goal scorer, who netted his 700th club career goal only last week, wasn’t started by United manager this season. Under Ten Hag, Ronaldo hasn’t been a first choice forward for the Red Devils.
It was during the summer transfer window that the 37-year-old was also linked to moving out of Manchester, only after having returned last year. It was believed that United’s inability to stay in the Champions League was a disappointment for the forward, who wished to feature in the tournament.
