With Manchester United playing their first match, Tuesday, after the official departure of legend Cristiano Ronaldo, coach Ten Hag confirmed that the separation between the club and the player was a decision taken by the Portuguese star.
Hag told “Via Play Sport” before his team’s match against Nottingham Forest, in the English Premier League, that the club is currently focusing on the “Premier League” confrontations.
Regarding the lack of Ronaldo among the team’s strikers, Hag said: “All I see is a team hungry to play. I don’t look back, I only look to the future.”
Manchester United announced in the middle of last month that Ronaldo would be dispensed with, after the Portuguese star conducted a television interview, during which he attacked the club’s management and the former and current coaching staff of the Red Devils.
But Hague said: “It was Ronaldo who chose to say goodbye, he is no longer part of the team. He is gone and he is in the past. We are now looking forward and to the future.”
John van ‘t Schip and Frank de Boer believe that Erik ten Hag made the right choice to say goodbye to Ronaldo.
“By letting Ronaldo go now, there is a kind of liberation in the dressing room,” said De Boer.https://t.co/nd5RYiwgm1#ViaplaySportNL #ViaplayVoetbal pic.twitter.com/UFsfPCYEeS
— Viaplay Sport Nederland (@viaplaysportnl) December 27, 2022
Despite Hugh’s assertion of Manchester United’s need for a replacement for the Portuguese striker, his team seems to have adapted to life well without him upon his return to the English Premier League, as it beat Nottingham Forest, on Tuesday, with three clean goals, to become a point away. Only one of the centers of the Champions League.
With Hag looking forward to moving forward and looking to the future, reports indicate that Ronaldo is also close to joining the Saudi League through Al-Nasr Club, while no official confirmation has been made from both parties.