Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed he will have to be careful when considering 36-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo's workload over the course of the Premier League season.
The United boss explained how Ronaldo will not play every game this campaign as the Norwegian looks to manage the star's minutes.
Ronaldo's debut was every inch the fairytale return the Old Trafford faithful were hoping for, the former Real Madrid and Juventus man bagging a brace in United's 4-1 win over Newcastle.
Prior to the game there was some debate over whether Ronaldo would start, but having played the full 90 and scoring twice in the process - he may prove difficult to leave out of the side moving forward.
However, Solskjaer explained how there will be games this season that Ronaldo will sit out as he will be kept as fresh as possible for the more important clashes.
When pressed on whether it would be impossible to leave Ronaldo out of the starting eleven, Solskjaer said: "The thing with Cristiano is that he looks after himself so much so I know he will recover quickly and he has had a pre-season.
"Of course it’s important that we get everyone up and running and to get him up and running and to give him 90 minutes.
"Of course there is a game on Tuesday [against Young Boys]. We will see what we do. But no, it’s not impossible to leave him out.
"He is 36, Mason [Greenwood] is 19, so it’s the same, I have to manage his minutes, and I have to manage a 36-year-old’s minutes as well."
Ronaldo only penned the deal to return to the red half of Manchester at the tail-end of last month, but is reportedly already raising the standards within United's Carrington training base.
"The more quality you add to the group and the more healthy competition and leaders who they look up to,” Solskjaer explained.
How many goals will Ronaldo score this season? Have your say here.
"I think seeing Raphael [Varane] and Cristiano coming it’s raised everyone’s eyebrows because they are winners, they have won everything there is to win and they put demands on themselves which the young boys, the rest of the team, they look at them and think: 'That is how you stay at the top.'
"So it is only going to be good for everyone and there is competition for places which is great for me to see."
