Surprisingly, Cristiano Ronaldo sat on the bench for the full 90 minutes yesterday as Manchester United were beaten 6-3 by rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side were in excellent form as they comfortably won the first Manchester Derby of the season, with Erling Haaland and Phil Foden each scoring a hat-trick in a memorable win.
It wasn’t a great day for Ronaldo though, as Erik ten Hag benched him and never brought him back, with Fabrizio Romano questioning this decision in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside.
Romano feels the veteran Portuguese international still has something to offer in a big match like this, but also insisted there is no change in terms of the player’s transfer situation.
Ronaldo’s future was in serious doubt for much of the summer as he missed much of Manchester United’s pre-season, but Romano says it is too early to say what his agent Jorge Mendes will be looking to do for his client in January.
“There is still no update on Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s too early,” explained Romano. “In November/December, during the World Cup, it will be easier to understand Cristiano’s position with Mendes; as of now, nothing has changed.
“To be honest, I would always play Cristiano in the best games like the Manchester Derby, but it’s also fair to remember that he didn’t do the full pre-season.”
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Ronaldo may be approaching 38, but he still had an excellent season for United last season, scoring 24 goals in all competitions for a struggling team, so one imagines some fans will question Ten Hag. for not even calling him up as a substitute against City yesterday.
While there is no doubt that Ronaldo is well past his peak, he is still one of the greatest of all time, and it is sad to see his Premier League career fade in this way.
