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Cristiano Ronaldo played his first minutes of preseason yesterday, but the striker is still eager to leave Old Trafford.
The 37-year-old did not return to pre-season training for “family reasons” and then missed United’s tour of Thailand and then Australia.
The striker played the first 45 minutes of the Red Devils’ 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, but left the stadium before the final whistle.
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Cristiano Ronaldo played his first minutes of preseason after missing the Man United tour
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Ronaldo with his super agent Jorge Mendes on the left) when he returned to Man United last week
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sports mail he understands that a number of other players, including Diogo Dalot, left Old Trafford early and it is not something United are concerned about or disagree with.
It’s not surprising that Ronaldo only played 45 minutes given that the Portuguese star had only trained for a couple of days before playing his first friendly of the summer.
However, Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes is still actively trying to find a new club for his client before the end of the transfer window and will do “everything he can” to make the move go ahead, despite that United are adamant that he will stay.
Reports persisted throughout the summer that Ronaldo wants to play at the highest level possible in the winter of his career and wants to move to a club that plays in the Champions League.
United’s seventh-place finish last season doesn’t allow that, but finding Ronaldo as a new suitor has proven to be a harder job than Mendes perhaps imagined.
But last week, Ronaldo had a rather cryptic response to a fan account on Instagram, where he attacked the media amid intense speculation about his next destination.
“Impossible not to talk about me one day,” Ronaldo wrote. Otherwise, the press doesn’t make any money. You know that if you don’t lie you can’t get people’s attention. Keep going so that one day the news will come out well for you.’
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It looks like Ronaldo will start the season with Man United if a suitable move doesn’t materialize.
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Ronaldo finally made his first appearance under new Man United boss Erik ten Hag on Sunday.
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Ronaldo said he was happy to play again, but has a long way to go before he is fit.
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sports mail understands that Ronaldo was referring to a claim in the fan account post that Sir Alex Ferguson had intervened in a desperate attempt to persuade the player to remain at Old Trafford.
But it appears that Ferguson’s meeting with the club and Ronaldo’s return to training on the same day were unrelated.
Ronaldo scored 24 goals in 38 games for United last season, 18 of them in the Premier League.
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