Erik ten Hag shuts down questions on Cristiano Ronaldo's future

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Erik ten Hag shuts down questions on Cristiano Ronaldo's future

Erik ten Hag shut down questions on Cristiano Ronaldo's future after his Manchester United pre-season squad arrived in Melbourne.

The Portugal forward is not currently in the Red Devils' squad. Ronaldo is eager to leave for a club playing Champions League football and his representatives have been exploring potential destinations for a summer move.

Man Utd have publicly stated that Ronaldo is not in the squad due to 'personal reasons', with Ten Hag previously reiterating that he was "in his plans" for next season.

With United preparing for a friendly against Melbourne Victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, Ten Hag gave a short response to more questions regarding Ronaldo's future.

He said: 'We made a statement and nothing has changed."

90min understands United are open to selling the 37-year-old, who scored 18 of the club's 57 league goals last season, and Chelsea are interested as new owner Todd Boehly targets a marquee signing this summer. The Blues have, however, just signed Raheem Sterling from Manchester City in a £50m deal and are targeting a number of defensive additions, too.

With Ronaldo absent, the likes of Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford enjoyed minutes in United's 4-0 thumping of Liverpool on Tuesday. Sancho opened the scoring early on before a quick double from Fred and Anthony Martial made it 3-0 before half-time. Facundo Pellistri then added some gloss to the scoreline with a fourth 15 minutes from time.

United play Melbourne Victory on Friday morning before further friendlies against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa next week.