Ronaldo cheers on Eriksen

CRISTIANO RONALDO watched from the sidelines as Manchester United beat Wrexham 4-1 in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Carrington yesterday.

The Portugual striker saw Christian Eriksen mark his arrival at the club by curling in a trademark free-kick.

Ronaldo returned to United on Tuesday with his agent Jorge Mendes, and has informed the club that he wishes to be released from his contract so he can join a Champions League side.

United maintained last night that they have no desire to sell and have not received any enquiries for the 37-year-old. Despite the impasse,

Ronaldo continues to behave professionally. He had medical testing on Tuesday and yesterday before starting a personalised training programme under manager Erik ten Hag’s guidance. Ronaldo is still some days away from being ready to play, in the eyes of Ten Hag’s staff, but the striker was happy to show his support for United’s new signings Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez, who started against National League side Wrexham. Centre back Raphael Varane and midfielder James Garner, a target for Nottingham Forest, also played. Garner has only just recovered from a thigh injury and produced a steady performance, but it was 30-year-old Eriksen who caught the eye with his 45-minute cameo and free-kick goal. Eriksen has been staying at Manchester’s Lowry Hotel with £55million signing Martinez. The Argentina defender was only confirmed as a United player an hour before yesterday’s kick-off and said: ‘I’m really aggressive, I love to win. ‘It’s difficult but with Ten Hag I will become even better because he is an excellent manager. ‘My mentality is to work hard every day and to win trophies. This is what I will keep doing.’