Cristiano Ronaldo: Erik ten Hag confirms he will be in the Manchester United squad to play Rayo Vallecano

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo will be in his matchday squad to play against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

United had left Ronaldo out of their squad to face Atletico Madrid in their pre-season friendly defeat in Oslo on Saturday.

On Friday, the Portugal international already suggested he will play on Sunday against Rayo Vallecano. He wrote on Instagram: “Sunday, the king plays.”

On Saturday, Ronaldo posted a picture of himself on Instagram training with his United team-mates for the first time this pre-season at Carrington on Saturday.

He captioned the photo: “working in progress”.

Speaking the day after United’s 1-0 loss to Atletico in Norway, Ten Hag said Ronaldo will be in his matchday squad to take on the La Liga club at Old Trafford.

“Tomorrow he will be in the squad,” the Dutchman said. “We’ll see how long he can play.”

Ten Hag also said the starting XI to play Rayo Vallecano will be very different from the team that lost to Atletico on Friday.

He said: “The players who played today from the start, they will not come on tomorrow. So tomorrow we will have a different starting XI.

“But there are players who came on who can start tomorrow.”

Ten Hag says he is looking forward to managing his United side in front of the home supporters at Old Trafford on Sunday.

“I think [it will be special],” he said. “After, I can tell you the feeling, but it would be great. I heard it was sold out, so it is fantastic.

“We have to prepare for this game now. We have to travel back soon to get well prepared for the start tomorrow against Rayo Vallecano.”