A hip flexor injury had ruled Cristiano Ronaldo out of contention for the Manchester derby with Manchester City. However, despite travelling with the team to Etihad Stadium to provide morale support, Cristiano Ronaldo left for Portugal which shocked his teammates.
The striker has now arrived at Manchester United after flying off to Portugal ahead of The Red Devils’ 4-1 humbling at the hands of Manchester City. The superstar arrived at the Carrington training ground in a luxury Cadillac and was escorted by two bodyguards in a Range Rover closely following him.
Ronaldo failed to make it to the squad for the Manchester derby last weekend after a hip flexor injury ruled him out. However, the 37-year-old’s decision to leave the United Kingdom and fly off to Portugal was not something that the majority of the Manchester United fans or players expected.
There was also speculation surrounding Ronaldo as manager Ralf Rangnick provided little detail on his condition ahead of the game. Many media reports even suggested that Rangnick had decided to drop Ronaldo and the Portuguese superstar’s sister Katia Aveiro added fuel to fire by liking a post on Instagram which reported the same.
“Cristiano had some problems with his hip flexor on Friday and since then, he didn’t train,”
said the German before the match.
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane also suspected ‘something didn’t add up’ following Rangnick’s interview. “
“There seems to be something more with the Ronaldo situation, the manager coming out talking about something about his hip flexor but the man is a machine and is rarely injured, but every now and again he comes out with that about his hip flexor, doesn’t add up to me.”
said the ex-Ireland international.
Later on, the Manchester United interim manager also indirectly responded to Roy Keane after the 4-1 defeat to City saying that he has to believe in the team’s medical department.
“I have to believe our medical department.
“Our doctor came to me on Friday morning to say Cristiano couldn’t train because of some problems with his hip flexor and the same on Saturday,”
said Rangnick.
There have been no updates regarding Ronaldo’s injury since the jarring defeat to Manchester City and it also remains clear how actively he has been participating in training and whether he will be available for the clash with Tottenham Hotspur.
