Roy Keane has claimed Manchester United cannot allow Cristiano Ronaldo to leave the club - if Anthony Martial is their only option to replace him.
United were finally able to put months of speculation behind them on Sunday, as they kicked off their Premier League campaign at home to Brighton. Unfortunately for new manager Erik ten Hag, the decision on whether he started Ronaldo or not, still dominated the discourse before kick-off at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo is still a Manchester United player for the beginning of the campaign. But whether that is the case in a month’s time remains to be seen. The 37-year-old rocked United bosses earlier this summer, when he made it clear he wanted to leave - less than a year on from his spectacular return.
A lack of Champions League football, twinned with what he believes is a squad incapable of challenging for major honours, has led Ronaldo’s attempt to facilitate an exit.
He opted to sit out United’s summer tour of Asia and Australia due to personal reasons and has appeared just once throughout their pre-season programme. In Ronaldo’s absence, Martial has led the line in the fledgling weeks of the Ten Hag reign, catching the eye with a number of impressive showings.
He was in line to start against the Seagulls, only for injury to rule him out. Martial’s United career had looked destined to come to an end before Ten Hag’s appointment and Keane is adamant that he has proven time and time again, he isn’t ready to step in for Ronaldo on a long-term basis.
"You can't let Ronaldo go out the door and think Martial is going to be the answer,” he told Sky Sports. “Martial has proven that. He’s had a decent pre-season? Big deal.
“They haven’t got enough options at this moment in time. That might change over the next few weeks, but from a footballing point of view you have to hold on to Ronaldo. You can’t let him go when you don’t have the back-up behind him.”
Ten Hag opted to not start Ronaldo for the season opener, instead lining up with an attacking unit which included the likes of Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford. And Keane felt the decision to keep the veteran striker on the bench was an easy one to make.
“It’s a pretty straightforward call from the manager,” Keane added. “As brilliant as Ronaldo is, he’s only 45 minutes of pre-season. I don’t care how well you look after yourself - you need more than that.
“I think he’s looking at the players he’s got - Brighton at home - and probably thinks he fancies his chances without Ronaldo.”
Asked if Ronaldo’s omission from the starting XI sent a message about the direction of the team under the new manager, Keane replied: “Not really. There’s obviously issues going on in the background, we have a few weeks to look at that before the window closes. But I think today - from a footballing point of view - it was a straightforward call for the manager to make because of a lack of minutes.
“I watched the game last week, he didn’t exactly put himself around so he certainly needs more minutes under his belt before going into a Premier League match. I think the call from the manager was just common sense really.”
