Graham Potter will have to wait to find out if Cristiano Ronaldo will play against Chelsea on Saturday after the Portuguese star stormed off down the tunnel early in Manchester United's 2-0 win over Tottenham.
The 37-year-old was an unused substitute during United's dominant victory at Old Trafford but Ronaldo's decision to leave the bench before the full-time whistle overshadowed the affair. The striker has become just a bit part player this season after wishing to leave throughout the summer.
Ronaldo has only started in two league victories this season and has only scored one goal. He is currently part of Ten Hag's rotated Europa League squad instead and didn't play in the loss to Manchester City 'out of respect for his career' according to the manager.
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After the match, Ten Hag said, "We will deal with that on Thursday. I saw him leaving but I didn’t speak to him after. I don’t pay attention to that, we want to focus on this team, it was a magnificent performance from all 11 players."
Potter's Chelsea host United on Saturday in the first top six match of his tenure and the stakes have been raised following a frustrating 0-0 draw with Brentford. The match ended around half an hour before Ronaldo made way at Old Trafford, and the manager will have to wait to see how he is dealt with before making plans for the game.
Former Red Devils defender Rio Ferdinand thinks it could be part of some wider thinking, though.
Speaking on his FIVE YouTube channel, he said: "My only thought could be that Cristiano is being saved for the weekend against Chelsea. That's the only way I see it, logically. He didn't play today and I think Ronaldo will be absolutely fuming with that naturally and I wouldn't expect anything different from him.
"I think the big problem Erik ten Hag's got is that, coming up to this next window, I think he's got to think very carefully about what he does. If he doesn't see Cristiano Ronaldo as a starter in his team more often than not, I think he has to release him from the contract, has to let him go.
"It's not fair on anybody - the club, Cristiano, Erik ten Hag or the players - that after every game he doesn't start is 'why didn't didn't Cristiano Ronaldo start?' and that's the story. Man Utd have won 2-0 today and one of the leading stories will probably be about Ronaldo tomorrow and that can't be right."
Chelsea were one of a few clubs interested in taking Ronaldo over the summer with new co-owner Todd Boehly keen to make the forward a statement signing in his first summer, but Thomas Tuchel is understood to have vetoed the move several times. Ronaldo's contract is up at the end of the season though and could be open to another transfer away if the options are there.
Ferdinand has questioned the logic behind making him remain, adding: "So you sit here and think 'why did Man Utd not just let him go then?' if Erik ten Hag kind of knew he wasn't going to part of his main plans.
"That's the baffling part for me because you think what someone's done in their career, at his level, the manager surely would have known before the season started 'am I going to really play Ronaldo a lot? Is he really what I want in my team? Is he the future of what I'm building around?'
"It looks to me right now as though he would have aired on the side of 'no'. If that's the case, I feel he probably should have let Cristiano go. It's probably going to be something that hampers him [Ten Hag] going forward until the day Ronaldo leaves the football club because of how big he is, how much of an icon, how much of a superstar he is."
Opinion overall has been split on the decision to leave him out though, and Thierry Henry understands the difficult decision. "It is not an easy one, but for the boss, he is here for the team, not Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano is part of the team and you need to find that solution.
"At times, he has to play without him and what's difficult is when people talk about him. He will talk about what he has done in the game and not many people can sit at his table who have achieved what he has, but it is about what he is currently doing and what he is doing is not what he used to."
Patrice Evra, who played with Ronaldo at United, thinks otherwise though and believes he should be in the team. "I would have to start him. One interview from Ten Hag after the game against Manchester City and why he didn't bring him on, was because he respected his character. If he respected his character, he would surely have to play him and play him every time."
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