Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani are all available for the clash against Tottenham after missing the Manchester derby last weekend. However, Ralf Rangnick has admitted that he isn’t aware of whether Ronaldo is happy at Old Trafford.
The Porutuguese was missing from the United’s squad on their trip to arch rivals Manchester City’s (1-4) stadium after a reported hip flexor injury. However, several fans and experts smelt foul play considering the secrecy regarding the injury and the fact no additional details were provided.
There were also suggestions that Rangnick had decided to drop Ronaldo for the important clash and the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s trip to Portugal did little to ease tension. Many of his teammates were left surprised by his decision to leave England instead of travelling with the squad to boost morale.
However, the 37-year-old is set to return for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur. The interim manager has confirmed that he has trained well and is expected to be included in the team for the match.
“He resumed training yesterday. He trained the whole training session and I expect him to be in training today as well. He trained well so I would’ve thought he’s available for tomorrow.”
the German said.
The Manchester derby was only the second league game, which Cristiano Ronaldo had missed since returning to the club sensationally this summer. However, he has managed just one goal in his last 10 appearances and is going through a particularly rough patch in front of goal.
Ronaldo’s sister Katia Aveiro also questioned the nature of his injury after liking an Instagram post, which suggested that Rangnick had dropped Ronaldo instead.
Amid fresh reports surrounding Ronaldo’s morale this week, Rangnick added:
“Well, I don’t know, I haven’t asked him if he’s happy at Manchester and at this club. For me, it’s important that he’s fit again and that he resumed training yesterday.
“We will see with which formation and with which line-up we are going to play the game tomorrow.”
When asked whether he and the club were aware of Ronaldo’s decision to fly to Portugal instead of travelling with the team to the Etihad stadium, the German manager said,
“No, because it doesn’t make sense to look back on what was happening in the last six or seven days.
“For me, it’s important what is happening today and tomorrow. For me, it doesn’t make sense at all to go through all this again.”
