Erik ten Hag has slammed Cristiano Ronaldo and other Manchester United players who left Old Trafford while Sunday’s friendly against Rayo Vallecano was still going on, saying it was unfair to single out the Portuguese.
Ronaldo, the only player in the squad known to have left early, was photographed outside the stadium along with Diogo Dalot, who was not involved. This week, the manager said it was “unacceptable” to be eliminated before the final whistle. Ten Hag was asked how he dealt with it. “You mention it, correct it, and then move on,” he said.
Ten Hag hesitated when asked specifically about Ronaldo. “What do you mean? Now I have to show [out] that those who left, many players left, but the spotlight is on Cristiano. That’s not right, so do your research and make it up [clear] Many players have left, it said [by him].
“I don’t understand what the relationship is [singling him out] – he was part of it. There were a lot of players there.”
Ten Hag was pressured as to why Ronaldo and the others thought it was okay to leave earlier. “I think we’ve said enough about that. I said it’s not right,” he said.
Ronaldo wants to leave United and Ten Hag was asked how happy he was with the 37-year-old. “I’m really happy, I already told you that,” he said. “We have a top striker, we’re very happy he’s in the squad and we’re sticking to the plan.”
In preparation, Ronaldo has only played 45 minutes against Rayo and has been training for the last two weeks. Ten Hag confirmed Anthony Martial would miss Sunday’s visit to Brighton with a hamstring injury, but he wouldn’t know if Ronaldo will be there.
“We’ll see Sunday,” he said. “I am satisfied with the whole team, we are working well [with a] good culture and Cristiano works really hard and hard.”
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Ten Hag’s No. 1 target is Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong but with less than four weeks of the window remaining, there remains a stalemate over his pursuit.
‘We want Frenkie?’ said Ten Hag. “It is [recruitment] about the right players and I cannot comment on a player who is under contract with another club. If you are working with the current roster and developing players in your current roster, [I see] At this moment we have players in this position who are performing really well.”
Ten Hag indicated that Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martínez were available for selection after their shortened preseason.