Cristiano Ronaldo has been dropped from Manchester United’s squad for Saturday’s clash with Chelsea after his tantrum against Tottenham.
Ronaldo stormed down the Old Trafford tunnel with several minutes remaining in United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday.
The 37-year-old star reportedly told United manager Erik ten Hag that he did not want to come on as a late substitute.
Ten Hag said after the Tottenham match that he would “deal with” the issue on Thursday.
It was not the first time Ronaldo had shown public dissent at his role in Ten Hag’s team’s and the United manager has finally responded by wielding the axe.
“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,” a United statement said on Thursday.
It is believed Ten Hag’s decision to remove Ronaldo from the squad has the full backing of the United hierarchy.
United chiefs are said to be weighing up a decision on Ronaldo’s long-term future after the disciplinary issue. But whether there can be a way back for the unhappy Portugal striker remains to be seen.
United would have to wait until the transfer window reopens on January 1 before they could sell Ronaldo.
Disappointed by United’s failure to qualify for the Champions League, Ronaldo has been trying to engineer a move away from Old Trafford since the end of last season.
The former Real Madrid and Juventus star had hoped to join a club in the Champions League, but he found offers from Europe’s elite hard to come by.
Ronaldo missed United’s pre-season tour to Australia and Asia for “family reasons” before making another show of frustration in a friendly against Rayo Vallecano.
Playing under Ten Hag for the first time, Ronaldo was substituted at half-time and responded by leaving Old Trafford before the match had finished.
