Cristiano Ronaldo Left Old Trafford Before Final Whistle After Getting Subbed vs Rayo Vallecano

Cristiano Ronaldo was pictured leaving Old Trafford on Sunday before the final whistle had been blow between Manchester United and Rayo Vallecano.

Erik ten Hag's men finished their pre-season with a 1-1 draw against the La Liga opposition at Old Trafford. It was Amad, who came on for Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored United's goal.

The Portuguese striker returned to the fold after missing United's pre-season tour of Thailand, Australia and Norway.

His future at the club is in doubt after he asked to leave the club at the start of the month. Since then his agent, Jorge Mendes, has been flirting with many different clubs, including Chelsea and Bayern Munich.

With a lack of interest, Ronaldo has returned to the club after meeting with Ten Hag on Tuesday. The discussions ended in an impasse, with the 37-year-old still keen on an exit.

He made his first appearance in United colours on Sunday, after announcing that "the king" would play at Old Trafford against Rayo Vallecano.

It was a positive showing from the forward if you were to ignore context, and that's what many fans did as he entered the pitch. Load cheers attempted to drown out the boos that were also heard in the stadium.

The no.7 was sharp in link-up play and played some slick passes, most notably towards Donny van de Beek in behind mid-way through the first half, who tried to square the ball to an onrushing Garnacho.

Despite this, the rustiness of missing an entire pre-season tour was evident in front of goal for Ronaldo, who skied a chance on the left side of the box early on in the game.

"He will be in the squad," Ten Hag said the day before the game. "We’ll see how long he can play. I cannot tell in this moment (how fit he is).

"He is not on the level of the rest of the squad because he missed a lot of weeks. But he needs games and he needs training, a lot."

In line with his comments pre-match, Ten Hag substituted Ronaldo at half-time. The goalscorer Amad came on for the veteran forward.

Images then were taken before the full-time whistle of Ronaldo seemingly leaving the stadium before the final whistle.

📸 Cristiano Ronaldo left Old Trafford before the match finished. [@CantonaManc] pic.twitter.com/07oqtDIhxC

— Utd District (@UtdDistrict) July 31, 2022

Erik ten Hag was not questioned on the topic, nor asked for an update on the situation with the striker, by club media.

With it already being a problem, Ronaldo's early exit on Sunday is something that Ten Hag would've wanted to avoid, as it has already created further speculation online.

It seems quite clear that the forward wants to leave the club before the window ends in a months time. Whether United allow a transfer is a different question, however, with their public stance being firm; that he's not for sale.