Cristiano Ronaldo believes he’s ready to play against Brighton at Old Trafford on Sunday - after putting the squeeze on Erik ten Hag.
The want-away 37-year-old star is playing catch-up since returning to the club last week after being given permission to miss United’s pre-season tour to Asia and Australia due to family reasons. Sources at Carrington say Ronaldo has been “flying” in training - and he’s told Ten Hag he feels fit enough to play some role in today’s season opener against Graham Potter’s men.
With French attacker Anthony Martial injured after picking up a grade 1 hamstring strain against Atletico Madrid in Norway eight days ago, ten Hag is short on experienced striking options. Ronaldo, who played 45 minutes of United’s final pre-season friendly against La Liga side Ray Vallecano last Sunday has trained all week with the club’s conditioning staff.
And the Portuguese icon wants to step back on the Old Trafford stage against Brighton. That will give ten Hag a dilemma with the timeframe for Martial’s return still unclear although the injury is not thought to be serious.
Risking an injury to Ronaldo would leave the Dutchman short of strikers with only Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho his recognised front men. United officials are understood to be working behind the scenes to bring in another striker regardless of whether Ronaldo remains at the club beyond the transfer window.
The club have held talks with RB Salzburg over a move for their 19-year-old Slovenian- striker Benjamin Sesko but believe the £42 million valuation is excessive for a teenager with limited experience. Having been burned in recent seasons paying over market value for players, United’s new approach is to stay clear of being drawn into splashing inflated fees.
But Sesko does fit the profile of signing hungry, young players rather than expensive, big salary stars at the back end of their career like Edinson Cavani who left the club earlier this summer.
