BREAKING: Cristiano Ronaldo banished from Man Utd first-team squad for Chelsea game
Cristiano Ronaldo has been banished from Manchester United’s first-team squad for their next match following a dramatic exit from the club’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner came under fire for leaving the bench before the 90-minute mark on Wednesday night upon confirmation that he would be an unused substitute.
With United cantering to a 2-0 triumph and Anthony Elanga having come on just seconds earlier, Ronaldo could be seen walking along the touchline and towards Old Trafford’s iconic corner tunnel.
Ronaldo reportedly refused to come on vs Spurs
Naturally, Erik ten Hag was peppered with questions about the incident during his post-match interviews, but remained coy on the matter, explaining that he would ‘deal with it tomorrow.’
However, the plot thickened on Thursday evening in an unexpected twist where it emerged that the Portuguese superstar had refused to enter the fray as a substitute.
Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail dramatically revealed on Twitter: “BREAKING: Cristiano Ronaldo REFUSED to come on as a substitute in Man Utd’s win over Spurs before leaving Old Trafford early.”
Ronaldo banished from first-team squad
It was a shocking development in an already tense situation and one that was duly acknowledged by the club themselves as they revealed that the 37-year-old would be suspended for the subsequent Chelsea clash.
Fabrizio Romano revealed that the club released a statement explaining: “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”.
Man Utd & Ronaldo: A complicated situation
The simple fact of the matter is that Ronaldo’s situation at United is getting out of hand.
On the back of a summer where the Real Madrid legend was evidently trying to manufacture an exit, matters have only been intensified by Ten Hag’s lack of trust in the Portuguese as part of his starting XI.
The likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and even Christian Eriksen have all been preferred to lead the line at times for a Red Devils side who seem to have moved on from their former talisman.
It is, after all, painfully symbolic that Ronaldo’s absence throughout the Spurs clash coincided with arguably United’s finest performance under Ten Hag to date.
And it can’t help feeling as though Ronaldo’s reported actions at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ will probe to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
There’s no denying that Ronaldo’s behaviour, regardless of whether it included a refusal to come on as a substitute or not, fell well below what’s expected of an elite United player.
