Whether Chelsea make a U-turn on Cristiano Ronaldo remains to be seen.
The latest hints were that the 37-year-old would give Erik ten Hag a chance as evidenced by his return to the pre-season regime after rumours emerged that his exile for 'family reasons' could draw on longer than expected. However, the striker's early exit after being subbed at half-time during the friendly against Rayo Vallecano led to Ten Hag branding the action "unacceptable", and Ronaldo is not expected to start at the weekend against Brighton.
With things still clearly simmering between the Man Utd icon and the club where he first made his name back on the world stage, an exit could still prove possible before the September 1 deadline if a team was to make a significant move. Up to date, the likes of Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Chelsea have been credited with an interest but this came from Jorge Mendes offering up his client in different ways to the two.
