Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has given squad updates involving Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and other stars.
Ronaldo was dropped from Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea after refusing to come on in a previous game, while Varane sustained an injury during the match at Stamford Bridge and looked in distress as he walked off.
Captain Harry Maguire, right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka and midfielder Donny von de Beek have all been out to long-term injuries.
“Yes, Cristiano will be in the squad tomorrow and Rapha Varane isn’t in the squad,” Ten Hag said during his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s UEFA Europa League fixture against Sheriff Tiraspol at Old Trafford.
“He will be out, certainly until the World Cup so he will not play in this block (of next few matches) for Manchester United.
“I think he will play at the World Cup, but the prognosis we have to wait. We have to see how it develops, how the rehab will develop.”
The Dutchman explained that he had resolved issues with Portuguese superstar Ronaldo.
“It’s not difficult but I think we set everything and we answered all the questions. So he was out for one game and now he is back in the squad as usual,” he clarified, before refusing to go into any more detail.
“I won’t answer anymore. So all the questions I think everything we covered last week, everything we explained so we have to focus on the game tomorrow. We have an important game because we want to be number one in the group so let’s focus on that.
“What I say, I don’t have to do it anymore. He is returning and focused on the game and that is important. Cristiano is involved in the game tomorrow.”
The former Ajax manager then offered updates on other players.
“Yeah, they are all back in training. Donny [van de Beek], Harry [Maguire], Aaron [Wan-Bissaka] are all in training for preparation for tomorrow’s game.
“We will assess after the training, together with the medical [staff] I will take the decision (to feature them or not).
“He (Maguire) always will play an important role. So he was injured, [I’m] happy he is on the way back, so now he has to get back into games.”
When he was asked if he would add new players to his squad in January, Ten Hag replied: “In this moment, I said also last week, we focus on the games. In the background, of course, [there is] always continually a process.
“We look at the squad and we want to live top sport culture and you have to always examine how you can improve, and that is what we will do.”
Manchester United are second in Group E with nine points, three adrift of leaders Real Sociedad, while Sheriff are third with three points and Francis Uzoho’s Omonia are bottom with no points.
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