Former Netherlands striker Marco van Basten says Erik ten Hag shouldn’t drop Cristiano Ronaldo when he joins the club next season.
Ten Hag has been named as the Premier League club’s new permanent manager and will take over from interim boss Ralf Rangnick next campaign.
There are question marks over Ronaldo’s place in the team going forward but Van Basten believes the Portugal international should stay in the line-up next season.
“If Ronaldo carries on playing like he did last week [against Norwich] and scores two or three goals in a match on a regular basis, there is no need to take him out of the team,” Van Basten told The Rondo Show.
“Ronaldo is a player who does his own thing, but as long as he delivers, you have to give him a place in the team. Ten Hag will take into account that he cannot ask the same things physically from Cristiano Ronaldo that he will be asking of an 18-year-old.
“Of course Ronaldo will need to work hard – but I am sure he will work hard because I can see Ten Hag having an influence on him to get him to play how he wants.”
Reports have suggested the new boss doesn’t see Ronaldo as part of his team next season but the star may leave on his own accord. It is looking likely United won’t secure Champions League qualification after losing to Arsenal on Saturday.
His current contract runs until June 2023 with an option for the club to extend a further year. But instead of seeing out the deal, the star has been urged to leave the side.
Ronaldo’s former United team-mate Wayne Rooney has urged the club to “look to the future” and move on from the striker as the club attempt to rebuild.
“Cristiano is getting on a bit,” Rooney said last month. “He isn’t the player he was in his twenties and that happens, that’s football. He’s a goal threat but in the rest of the game they need more. They need young, hungry players.”
