Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag has welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo back to first-team training at Carrington on Tuesday. Cristiano Ronaldo has trained with the rest of the Manchester United first-team squad for the first time since being exiled for refusing to come on as a substitute against Tottenham. Ronaldo was dropped from the squad to face Chelsea at the weekend after he’d told Erik ten Hag he wouldn’t come on as a late substitute in the 2-0 win against Spurs on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old walked down the tunnel before full-time and left Old Trafford, with Ten Hag then telling Ronaldo he would not be considered for the weekend and ordering him to train away from the rest of the squad. Since the 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Saturday, United’s players have had two days off so only returned to Carrington on Tuesday to begin preparations for the Europa League game against Sherrif Tiraspol, which takes place on Thursday.

Ten Hag and Ronaldo have held talks since the incident last week and the manager was happy to welcome Ronaldo back into the squad after those discussions. The forward had taken to social media last Thursday to explain his actions the previous evening, although he stopped short of apologising.

Ten Hag wanted to know Ronaldo was committed to his project before welcoming the player back, but he has now received enough assurances to bring him back into the group for the first time. Ronaldo will be available for the game against Sherrif Tiraspol on Thursday, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire and Donny van de Beek also returned to training.

It will be very interesting to see how ten Hag will set up his team on Thursday night and whether or not he will opt to start the superstar Portuguese forward in their European tie.