“Sunday, the king plays” - Cristiano Ronaldo announces he will be back in action for Manchester United against Rayo Vallecano 

Cristiano Ronaldo has announced that he will play for Manchester United in their final pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano this Sunday.

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has quoted the Portuguese superstar, who took to Instagram to declare:

“Sunday, the king plays”

The 37-year-old is yet to make an appearance for the Red Devils in the run-up to the new campaign as he was absent from the club's tour of Thailand and Australia.

The Athletic reported in early July that Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to leave Old Trafford due to the lack of Champions League football on offer, despite the legendary forward still having another year left on his contract.

The Portugal captain has been linked with several of Europe's top clubs this summer. There have also been doubts about whether he would be able to integrate into Erik ten Hag's high-pressing style of play if he were to stay at the club.

Ronaldo re-joined the Premier League giants last summer and scored 24 goals in 38 appearances following his move from Juventus. United's season, however, was a disaster as they finished sixth and exited all the competitions they were involved in early.

The Sun has claimed that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was present for a behind-closed-doors friendly against non-league side Wrexham this week, but he played no part in the fixture.

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Pundit claims Cristiano Ronaldo may cause dressing room unrest at Manchester United

After the legendary attacker held talks with Ten Hag earlier this week, former Scotland defender Alan Hutton claimed that throwing Cristiano Ronaldo back into the Manchester United squad may be questioned by some of the senior players.

Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton stated:

“ There will definitely be question marks especially coming out the changing room. They’ll want to know exactly what’s happening.

He continued:

“ It’s a strange situation, I know it’s for personal reasons so you can’t really look too much into it because we don’t actually know what it is. But to have sat out the whole pre-season and not have been anywhere near the club kind of screams to me that he just wants out.

The Aston Villa legend further said:

“ And whether that’s he doesn’t fancy it anymore, he wants to play Champions League football, that’s up to him. At the end of the day he’s got 12 months to go and I think Manchester United can add another year onto that so he could possibly have two seasons left.

He added:

“ Ronaldo can’t just step in next week and decide he’s ready to play, it’s not going to work like that even though he does keep himself fit. So I find it a strange one.“