'He's not the future!' Craig Burley tells Erik ten Hag to ditch Cristiano Ronaldo

Craig Burley believes Erik ten Hag must resolve Cristiano Ronaldo’s future as a priority once he begins work at Manchester United’s new manager.

The 52-year-old is set to be confirmed as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s permanent successor after progress was made in talks with Ajax earlier this week.

Ten Hag will inherit a fractured, disjointed squad which has fallen way short of expectations this season following a transfer window which saw Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane added to a squad which finished second last term.

Reports earlier this week suggested Ten Hag has already decided to dispense with Ronaldo, despite his status as United’s top scorer this season, and former Chelsea star and Scotland international Burley is adamant that decision is the correct course of action.

He told ESPN: ‘He’s not the future, he’s been an absolute terrific player the stats will back it up he’s got goal again this season

‘This team is so far off the pace there’s so much deadwood there in general and I’m not suggesting he’s part of that.

‘A new manager will have to come in and almost start afresh. It’s mother nature, he’s not the future and they need to build for the future fast’

‘I wouldn’t be surprised because if he’s potentially not in the first team plans and if you have to start leaving him out the reaction won’t be great.

‘That can cause an even bigger problem for a manager to have such a big star unhappy.

‘There will have to be a compromise reached I think a new manager has to get a big brush and sweep that place clean.’

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