The mystery over when Cristiano Ronaldo will return to Man United continues as the English giants do not know when the football star will join Erik ten Hag's side at Carrington, the club's headquarters in North-West Manchester.
Although Ten Hag insists that he's waiting to see his talisman back within the Red Devils' fold, he can't say for sure whether CR7 will wear the Utd jersey again during the 2022-23 season.
The former Ajax boss was asked if the club's top management, himself included, was concerned about the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's absence, Ten Hag replied: "No, it's the same as last week. Of course [United would like Ronaldo back], but 'concerned' is maybe not the right word," the Dutch coach said in a press conference on Friday.
"I focus on the players who are there and they are doing really well. They are in good shape and I have to focus on that and develop that. I cannot wait for him to come in so that we can integrate him," he added.
Ronaldo has missed the entirety of United's pre-season training block, including tours to Thailand and Australia, because of "family reasons" and speculation about his future with the former Premier League champions continues to swirl.
After Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Barcelona, and Chelsea rejected offers to sign him, Real Madrid became the latest club to snub him earlier this week. But Ronaldo is still hopeful of parting ways with United as Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has shown some interest in securing his signature.
According to Spanish outlet AS, the one thing standing between a possible deal between the former La Liga champions and the Funchal-born player is his mammoth $600,000-a-week wages. But his agent has now offered a discount on that, and Ronaldo has in principle agreed to a 30 percent pay cut as long as he gets a chance to play Champions League football.
Unlike the 20-time English winners, who failed to qualify for Europe's top club competition, Atletico will feature in the 2022-23 version of the tournament.
Being the all-time scorer in the continental event with 140 goals, Ronaldo holds the Champions League close to his heart and would do everything possible to appear in it one more time.
In the football world, one can never say never, particularly when the name involved is Cristiano Ronaldo.