Erik ten Hag hinted that Cristiano Ronaldo is on the brink of a return to the Manchester United first-team just days after he faced calls for him to be axed from the Portugal set-up - but he's on the bench for the Manchester derby.
Ronaldo has endured a torrid start to the season after failing to secure a move away from Old Trafford in the summer and has spent the opening weeks of the Ten Hag era on the bench.
The 37-year-old has also failed to impress in the cameo roles he has been handed by the Dutchman, although he did open his account for the season in the 2-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspor just before the international break.
Unfortunately, Ronaldo's struggles followed him into the international break. And after ineffective performances against Czech Republic and Spain, the Portuguese press have called on Fernando Santos to drop the striker ahead of next month's World Cup.
But Ten Hag backed Ronaldo to 'silence' his critics and return to form in the coming weeks - despite the fact he has used the veteran sparingly after he missed Manchester United's pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia.
Ten Hag told Sky Sports: "If anyone can deal with that then it is Cristiano Ronaldo because his whole career they look at him, the whole world is looking at him and the whole world has high expectations of him.
Join the debate! Do you think Ronaldo should be starting for Man Utd? Let us know here.
Image:
Octavio Passos)"I'm sure he will come back because he has spent his whole career scoring, and he will do it this year as well, and then I think then everyone will be silent."
Ten Hag later suggested that Ronaldo could return to the first-team fold imminently - even though Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial were both deemed fit enough to feature in the matchday squad for Sunday's Manchester derby.
But he stuck to his guns and named the Portugal international on the bench.
Rashford has leapfrogged Ronaldo in the Old Trafford pecking order this campaign, while Martial was tipped to play a more significant role for United after impressing Ten Hag in pre-season.
