Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is facing a late rethink over Cristiano Ronaldo's involvement in their Premier League opener after an injury to Anthony Martial.
Ronaldo, who is pushing to leave the Red Devils this summer, has barely featured in pre-season after missing their tour of Asia and Australia for family reasons. As a result, Ten Hag had reportedly decided that Martial would lead the line against Brighton this Sunday alongside Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford.
But Martial is now set to miss the opening game with a minor hamstring problem, according to The Athletic. He was holding his leg as he left the pitch against Atletico Madrid in Oslo and now faces further tests to determine when he will return.
It is claimed the Frenchman, who starred in pre-season with several goals after returning from a loan spell at Sevilla, is hoping to return for the trip to Brentford on August 13 but may not feature until they face Liverpool on August 22.
His absence gives Ten Hag a major decision to make regarding Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar would be the obvious choice to lead the line but Rashford can also play as a central striker with Anthony Elanga waiting in the wings to fill his role out wide.
Ronaldo was also amongst a number of players criticised by Ten Hag this week for leaving Old Trafford before full-time in their pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano at the weekend. In an interview with Dutch outlet Viaplay Sport Nederland, Ten Hag branded their actions "unacceptable".
The interviewer asked Ten Hag: "At the beginning of the conversation, we talked about how important it is for you to have players arrive on time and your attention to details. But Cristiano seems to arrive and leave whenever he wants, how do you manage that?"
Who should start in attack for Manchester United against Brighton? Let us know in the comments below!
Ten Hag replied: "He was allowed to leave because of private reasons with his family, so what you are saying is absolutely not true." To which the interviewer responded: "But against Rayo, he left the game during the break."
Ten Hag replied: "There were many more players who left." The interviewer was surprised by Ten Hag's response and asked: "So you think that's OK? Let is pass?"
Ten Hag bluntly said: "Definitely not." To which the interviewer asked: "So, how do you handle that?" At that point, Ten Hag gave his true feelings on the matter. "I certainly don't condone this," said the Dutchman. "This is unacceptable. For everyone. We are a team and you have to stay until the end."
