It has been almost a month since Cristiano Ronaldo expressed his desire to leave Manchester United this summer. Ronaldo was absent from United's pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia and he only returned to Carrington on Tuesday morning.
Ronaldo was pictured driving into training as usual yesterday, but he had passengers with him in his Bentley and that was out of the ordinary. Ronaldo's agent and close friend Jorge Mendes was in the vehicle, ready for talks about his future, and he sat down with United's CEO Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough. Ronaldo also spoke to Erik ten Hag for the first time in weeks.
Ronaldo's return to Old Trafford dominated headlines last year and his desire to leave the club this summer has had exactly the same effect. It has been an unwelcome distraction for Ten Hag, who is looking to rebuild United after an utterly disastrous season.
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Ten Hag's first press conference after being unveiled in May was held in Bangkok earlier this month and it came just one week after Ronaldo sent reverberations around the club, which meant he needed to be prepared for a barrage of questions.
Ten Hag was asked whether he would let Ronaldo leave and he replied: "No, we are planning for Cristiano Ronaldo for the season and that's it and I'm looking forward to working with him. I have read but what I say is Cristiano is not for sale.
"He is in our plans and we want success together. I spoke with him before this issue came up, I had a conversation with him and I had a good talk. That is between Cristiano and me, what I can confirm is we had a really good conversation together."
The straight-talking Ten Hag did not give that entire answer at once, but after being repeatedly pressed, he gave more detail and provided supporters with what they wanted to know. Ten Hag ultimately insisted that Ronaldo was not for sale.
United played Liverpool, Melbourne Victory, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa on their pre-season tour. United's performances were encouraging and glimmers of Ten Hag's philosophy became more frequent throughout, however, Ronaldo's absence threatened to overshadow the good feeling that was being built, while press conferences were littered with questions about his future.
Ten Hag expertly handled those questions and he never allowed the Ronaldo story to disrupt his preparation with the players that were on tour and who want to be at the club. Ten Hag has achieved this while carefully choosing his words on Ronaldo.
Although United fans have understandably already lost their patience, that has meant Ronaldo has not been ostracised from the dressing room and Ten Hag can take credit for that, as it will be key should the player remain at United beyond the summer.
Ten Hag has significantly improved morale at the club and he knows he can't allow the Ronaldo fiasco to derail his rebuild at such an early stage. Ronaldo was welcomed back to Carrington by his teammates on Tuesday and he might have been surprised at the mood of the group. The players have responded to Ten Hag's structured training sessions, which have been a much-needed improvement.
The 52-year-old is handling the challenge of dealing with Ronaldo's future as every great United manager should. He does not seem out of his depth, which was a concern considering he had managed Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich II, Utrecht and Ajax.
There will be bigger challenges ahead for Ten Hag, namely getting United back on top, but he made a strong impression during the club's pre-season tour and he couldn't be handling the situation with Ronaldo much better.
Ten Hag is not only keeping the harmony within the dressing room while the club's five-time Ballon d'Or is trying to leave, but he is also improving the atmosphere and that should not be taken for granted. Ten Hag is doing everything right so far.
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