Revealed: Ronaldo’s apology to Ten Hag
FT Desk
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
- 3 min read
Cristiano Ronaldo is back in the first-team fold at Manchester United after his apology to manager Erik ten Hag was accepted, Fabrizio Romano has revealed.
Ronaldo hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons last week when he refused to come on as a late substitute during the win over Tottenham.
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He subsequently walked down the tunnel and returned to the changing room before the game even ended.
Cristiano Ronaldo at Man Utd: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2022-23
This led to him being banished from the first-team squad ahead of the weekend draw with Chelsea in London.
But Ronaldo has now been reintegrated into the first team after apologising to Ten Hag.
What did Romano say about Ronaldo?
“We know how complicated things got for Cristiano Ronaldo last week,” Romano wrote in his CaughtOffside Column.
“He left Old Trafford early in the Tottenham game, so Erik ten Hag decided he had to be dropped. He decided together with the board, and Ronaldo was left out of Ten Hag’s squad for the Chelsea game.
“Cristiano understood it was not the best way to act. It’s important to mention he’s now back in contention for the first-team, we will see him get an opportunity again. He’s 100% available. But what happened with his talks with Ten Hag?
“I’m told they have been in constant, direct contact, and it was positive. Ronaldo was really sorry, but also Ten Hag understood the player wanted to be involved more. They spoke about it, they had multiple conversations, and they decided to shake hands and now Ronaldo is back in the United first-team.
“Overall, I’m told that all the people in Manchester United think that Ten Hag handled this incident very well, board included.”
Ronaldo has been mainly a substitute this season and has scored only two goals in all competitions.
He is desperate to leave the club in January, having initially put in a transfer request at the beginning of July.
However, his agent was unable to find him a suitor and he ended up staying at Man Utd for the 2022-23 season.
