Cristiano Ronaldo will miss Manchester United’s Premier League trip to Chelsea, the Old Trafford club have revealed.
Ronaldo left the Old Trafford bench before full-time in United’s league win over Tottenham on Wednesday.
The 37-year-old walked down the tunnel in the 89th minute, having remained an unused substitute.
Manager Erik ten Hag had vowed to “deal with” the issue on Thursday.
The United boss has taken the lead on the decision to stand down Portugal star Ronaldo, with full club backing.
“Cristiano will not be part of the Manchester United squad for this Saturday’s game against Chelsea,” read a United statement.
“The rest of the squad is fully focused on preparing for that fixture.”
Ronaldo has cut a divisive figure at Old Trafford this term, struggling for game time and appearing annoyed at having to prove his worth to boss Ten Hag.
The decorated striker had been linked with a summer move away from United but no deal materialised.
Now Ten Hag appears to be ready to take control of the situation, omitting Ronaldo from this weekend’s trip to Stamford Bridge.
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Ronaldo, a five-time Champions League winner with Real and United, has started only two Premier League games this season, also making six substitute appearances and scoring only one goal.
He also has four Europa League starts and one goal in the second tier competition he was so keen to avoid after United finished outside the Premier League's top four last term.
Since rejoining United from Juventus in 2021, Ronaldo has been a shadow of the figure who starred in his first stint at the club from 2003 to 2009.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner did finish as United's top-scorer last season with 24 goals, but he never appeared settled, clashing with former bosses Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Ralf Rangnick.
The final straw came when Ten Hag sent on Christian Eriksen and Anthony Elanga ahead of Ronaldo in the 87th minute against Tottenham.
United still had two substitutions remaining when Ronaldo stormed off.
Ten Hag's decision to drop him from the Chelsea game underlines how he viewed Ronaldo's show of petulance and potentially started a countdown to the end of his time at Old Trafford.
