Cristiano Ronaldo sends message to Man Utd fans after being subbed at half-time by Erik ten Hag in disappointing return
CRISTIANO RONALDO sent a message to Manchester United fans after making his first appearance since trying to force a move away from the club.
The 37-year-old was playing his first game of pre-season as the Red Devils drew 1-1 with Rayo Vallecenano yesterday after he took an extended leave as he tries to secure a new club.
But he failed to impress, as rusty Ron spurned a key chance in the first half from just a few yards out.
He was even seen shrugging at new boss Erik Ten Hag during a water break as the Dutch gaffer laid out his tactical plan to his squad.
Ronaldo was subsequently hooked at half-time after an uninspiring cameo.
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The Portuguese legend was spotted leaving Old Trafford around ten minutes before full-time, but he seemed to be happy to be back in front of his adoring public despite wanting to leave for Champions League football.
He shared an image of himself in action on Twitter afterwards and captioned it: “Happy to be back!”
And he also shared two snaps of himself signing autographs outside of the Theatre of Dreams and wrote: “Always good to be with he fans.”
The ex-Juventus ace returned to Carrington on Tuesday to hold crunch talks with the club about his future.
United remain insistent that Ronaldo is not for sale – while the striker himself has reiterated his desire to leave.
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SunSport exclusively revealed on Thursday that agent Jorge Mendes has a deal in place if the Red Devils give him a figure to trigger a move.
The former Real Madrid forward has been linked with a controversial switch to city rivals Atletico.
Although fans of the Spanish club strongly oppose the move – and displayed a banner reading “CR7 not welcome” in pre-season.
The likes of Chelsea, Juventus and Bayern Munich were all linked earlier in the summer but appear to have rejected the chance to sign Ronaldo.