Erik ten Hag had much to ponder on Manchester United’s 14-hour flight to Bangkok for the first leg of their pre-season tour.
Ten Hag’s in-tray was already full, before star player Cristiano Ronaldo dropped the bombshell that he wants out of United this summer, to join a club that can offer him Champions League football. While United’s public stance remains that Ronaldo is under contract and not for sale, privately ten Hag may be relieved the club’s most high-profile player is not part of the travelling party to Thailand and Australia.
The circus that would have ensured, following Ronaldo’s revelation he wants out, would have overshadowed ten Hag’s debut tour and first games in charge of United, had the club’s iconic No.7 been on the plane for yesterday’s flight. It is inevitable ten Hag will be quizzed on Ronaldo’s future when he faces the media in Bangkok on Monday, but with the forward absent for family reasons, the United boss can point to that as a legitimate reason for his absence, without adding to the fervour surrounding the issue.
