Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel refused to comment on why the Stamford Bridge outfit dropped their interest in signing Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo, who plundered 24 goals for United in all competitions last season, wants to leave Old Trafford this summer in pursuit of Champions League football. The Manchester Evening News understands Ronaldo is frustrated by the club's slow start to the summer window and is "upset" with the fact that the squad has been forced to accept a 25 per cent reduction in their salaries as a result of their failure to qualify for the Champions League.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner, who has not travelled with his United team-mates to either Thailand or Australia for the pre-season tour, was seemingly on Chelsea's radar until it emerged they dropped their interest in the striker earlier this week.
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Tuchel was quizzed on Ronaldo in a press conference and said: "He is a fantastic player for another fantastic club in the Premier League. Out of respect, we don't comment on these players because we don't like other coaches to speak about our players.
"This is where this has to stay. We focused on our top target - Raheem Sterling - which we could sign and everything else stays behind closed doors."
Despite ongoing speculation about Ronaldo's future, the former Juventus man, who returned to Old Trafford almost a year ago, remains in United manager Erik ten Hag's plans. The Dutchman, speaking earlier this week, admitted that he is continuing to plan for the campaign with the striker at the forefront of his mind.
Ten Hag said: "We are planning for Cristiano Ronaldo for the season and that's it and I'm looking forward to working with him. I have read but what I say is Cristiano is not for sale, he is in our plans and we want success together. I spoke with him before this issue came up, I had a conversation with him and I had a good talk. That is between Cristiano and me, what I can confirm is we had a really good conversation together."
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