Cristiano Ronaldo refused to come on as a substitute during Manchester United's 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, with the club now axing him from the squad for the trip to Chelsea at the weekend.
The 37-year-old striker caused a swarm of controversy in the 89th minute of Wednesday's match, as after watching almost the entirety of the game from the bench in frustration, he stormed down the tunnel and left Old Trafford before his teammates had even got back into the dressing room after full-time.
Ronaldo's actions are due to lead to a near-seven-figure fine, while the club have confirmed that he won't face Chelsea this Saturday.
United said in a brief statement: "Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of the Manchester United squad for this Saturday’s Premier League game against Chelsea.
"The rest of the squad is fully focused on preparing for that fixture."
The Mail Online initially reported that Ronaldo refused Erik ten Hag's invitation to come on as a late substitute.
The Portuguese megastar had been dropped for the Premier League clash after starting the Red Devils' previous two games and failing to score a goal. On Sunday, Ronaldo was visibly furious after Ten Hag choose to bring him off before the closing stages, with a toothless United slumping to a 0-0 draw with Newcastle.
It's explained in the report that in the dying embers of Wednesday's win at home to Tottenham, Ten Hag told his No.7 to enter the action but Ronaldo declined. Instead, Christian Eriksen and Anthony Elanga came on for late cameos as the Red Devils saw out the victory following an impressive team performance.
Ten Hag and Ronaldo's relationship is described as being at 'breaking point', with the latter still desperate to leave after failing to secure a move away over the summer and the United manager now happy to let him go. However, finding a suitor in the January transfer window will be difficult, particularly because of his eye-watering wage demands and Old Trafford chiefs remaining reluctant to lose his star power off the pitch.
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Ten Hag stated post-match that he'd "deal" with the situation on Thursday, with Ronaldo's teammates taking thinly-veiled swipes at him in their own interviews. Red Devils centre-back Lisandro Martinez admitted: "I didn't see anything. I don't know. I only enjoy with the people, we won, and that's important."
Meanwhile, midfielder Fred added: "It was a collective game which was very important for our team. We did a good pressing [game] and we built a result with all the hard work that we've done. It's a collective result and a very important one.
"Our team worked hard for this. We are adapting with the new coach, the pre-season and now starting the season, game after game. So we talk in the changing room, we help each other. This win was very important to the team."
United travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday to face Chelsea, notably one of the clubs linked with signing him.
