Dutch legend Marco van Basten said that Cristiano Ronaldo will remain a key figure at Manchester United under new coach Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag will leave Ajax for Manchester United at the end of the season, with a number of top players expected to leave.
Stars such as Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani and Jesse Lingard are preparing to leave Old Trafford, while Nemanja Matic has already confirmed his departure.
Manchester United cannot qualify for the Champions League next season, and if Ronaldo continues to do so it will be his first season in more than a decade to play for a club outside the Champions League.
Consequently, there were questions about Ronaldo’s future at the club, with reports this month indicating that Tin Hag does not see the Portuguese as part of his plans for next season.
The 37-year-old Portuguese was arguably Manchester United’s best player in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Arsenal.
Van Basten believes Ronaldo will remain in Ten Hag’s squad, confident the new coach can help him tweak his playing style even further.
“If Ronaldo continues to play as he did last week (against Norwich) and regularly scores two or three goals in a match, there is no need to remove him from the team,” Van Basten told Rondo Show.
Ten Hag will take into account that he cannot physically ask Cristiano Ronaldo the same things he would ask of an 18-year-old.
“Of course Ronaldo will have to work hard – and I’m sure he will work hard because I see Tin Hag having an effect on him to play the way he wants.
“I’m going to give Eric a tip: Don’t listen to the media when you start out there.
“He will focus a lot on his own work, on his work on the training ground and on the team. And when he does, I am sure he can change everything at United.”
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