At Manchester United, Paul Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo were good friends and enjoyed a close working relationship.

A possible inference that Erik ten Hag is getting ready to reintegrate Cristiano Ronaldo into the Manchester United dressing room can be drawn from Paul Pogba's vehement response to rumors in the media from the previous season that Ronaldo was a distraction in the locker room.

Ever since the Dutchman took the reins, Ronaldo has been unable to maintain a consistent starting spot, which just so happened to coincide with the same time that the 37-year-old striker was desperately angling for an exit from Old Trafford. Ronaldo has failed to hold down a starting spot ever since the Dutchman took the reins. It is almost impossible to believe that United has already played six games in the league season and Ronaldo has not yet scored a goal for the club.

The Portugal skipper has had a rough few months, but things weren't always easy for him in the years leading up to this point either. At the tail end of the previous season, numerous reports suggested that Ronaldo was becoming a problem for the then-interim manager Ralf Rangnick, just as rumors suggested that he was for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

These kinds of reports were met with a fierce defense of Ronaldo from his then-teammate Pogba, who hit back after the striker had scored a hat trick in a 3-2 victory over Spurs in March. Pogba's comments came after Ronaldo had scored a hat trick in a match in which Spurs were defeated.

"Ronaldo has never been a source of contention in any situation. You have the greatest striker in the annals of our sport on your team, so he should not be a problem for you. Today's performance, both from him and the rest of the team as a whole, was very impressive "Pogba added.

"Everybody knows Cristiano – there's no need to talk about him. That's the kind of thing he does. In spite of the fact that he was rested for the previous match, he came back and scored three goals. Everyone is in a good mood."

On the surface, Pogba's comments may appear to be nothing more than him defending a teammate; however, they may actually mean that Ronaldo's slow start to the season is not due to being exiled by Ten Hag for attitude problems as many people believe it to be. This interpretation is based on the fact that Ronaldo's slow start to the season may indicate that Ronaldo was not exiled by Ten Hag.

              Erik ten Hag might reintroduce Cristiano Ronaldo once he's fit.

Instead, the fact may just be that United's manager still has some reservations about the 37-year-old player's fitness, and once those concerns are appropriately addressed, Ronaldo will once again become a fixture in the starting line-up under Ten Hag's management.

Ronaldo did not participate in any of Manchester United's preseason games in Thailand or Australia, citing 'family concerns' as the reason for his absence from all of the games. As a direct consequence of this, he has had to play catch-up in order to regain his full level of physical condition.

Ten Hag praised Ronaldo in the days leading up to his appointment as manager of United, and he has continued to do so since assuming that role. A few minutes before the end of the transfer window, the manager said to the reporters: "Since we have plans with Ronaldo, we want him to remain with the team. This is exactly what we have in mind."

Relations between the two have, at times, given the appearance of being chilly. This was especially the case after the humiliating 4-0 loss at Brentford, when Ronaldo blanked his boss as he trudged down the tunnel after the game.

In spite of this, it appears that Ronaldo's wish to leave the club won't be fulfilled until the summer, and Pogba's assessment of Ronaldo's character should be taken into consideration. As a result, it's possible that both the player and the manager are willing to make the best of the situation as United strives to reverse their recent poor fortunes.