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Cristiano Ronaldo confirms involvement in Rayo Vallecano friendly against Manchester United
According to Manchester Evening News, Cristiano Ronaldo took to Instagram to reveal that he will be involved in the Manchester United vs Rayo Vallecano pre-season friendly at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Commenting on a post about Ronaldo not being involved in the squad going to Norway for the game against Atletico Madrid, the 37-year-old wrote, “Sunday the king plays”.
The Portuguese international has been heavily linked with an Old Trafford exit this summer. The number seven hasn’t been involved in the pre-season training under Erik ten Hag and missed the Red Devils’ tour of Asia and Australia.
Ronaldo has missed the games against Liverpool, Melbourne Victory, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa. The Red Devils have been impressive in all four games, giving fans hope going into next season.
Ten Hag has been without Man United’s 2021/22 top goalscorer in Ronaldo this summer. Still, the Dutch manager has been able to get the best out of a team that looked deflated by the end of last season.
Anthony Martial, who looked out of sorts last season and was sent to Sevilla on loan in January, has been scoring goals in the friendlies. With or without Ronaldo, we will hopefully have a season to remember.
Marcus Rashford also looks full of confidence. The England international had one of his worst seasons in a red shirt the last time out. The 24-year-old seems back to his best.
Jadon Sancho has settled in as well. The former Borussia Dortmund winger wasn’t able to have the impact fans had envisioned in the previous campaign. But pre-season has been promising.
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Ronaldo has said he’s set to play against Rayo. If the Portuguese does get involved, it’ll be the 37-year-old’s first minutes since the Brighton defeat last season. It remains to be seen whether he features against the Seagulls again as United host them in our opening game of the Premier League campaign.
