Erik ten Hag will let the forward leave in January, according to The Telegraph.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag will give his blessing for Cristiano Ronaldo to leave the Premier League club in the January transfer window, according to a report.
Ronaldo handed in a transfer request at Old Trafford this summer due to the Red Devils’ lack of Champions League football, but had his wishes denied by the Dutchman who took over as head coach in May.
Ten Hag insisted that Ronaldo formed part of his plans for the new campaign as the Portuguese was reportedly turned down by a string of top clubs including Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
But after failing to incorporate the 37-year-old as a regular starter in his team, Ten Hag will not stand in Ronaldo’s way any longer, The Telegraph has reported.
Ronaldo has started just one Premier League match this season and was left on the bench for the entirety of Sunday’s 6-3 defeat to Manchester City.
Ten Hag claimed that Ronaldo played no part in the fixture “out of respect” for his career, but the coach was criticized by United legend and pundit Roy Keane for his treatment of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
“I think the manager is holding on to him – okay, you say you need options, but you don’t hold on to Ronaldo to sit on the bench. He’s one of the greatest players ever,” Keane said.
“He had options – this idea that he’d no options is rubbish, he did have options, four or five very good options.
“Okay, today the manager, he brought [Anthony] Martial on and he scored two, so yeah, that’s justified.
“But generally speaking, the bigger picture, he’s not going to play Ronaldo, we know that. He’s played in one or two European games,” Keane continued.
“It’s just going to get uglier as the season goes on. Okay, Ronaldo’s motivated with the World Cup coming up, but if he’s sitting on the bench week in, week out, it’s not good, it’s just going to get ugly.”
Ronaldo might be afforded a start when United play Omonia away in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, ahead of a trip to Everton in the Premier League on Sunday.
A five-time winner of the Champions League, Ronaldo had never played in the second-string Europa League until this season, but it has provided him his only goal in all competitions so far.
