Eriksen saddened by Ronaldo’s exit at Man United

Christian Eriksen has admitted he is “sad” Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer part of the squad at Manchester United but insists it’s time to move on following the striker’s departure.

Ronaldo agreed a mutual termination of his contract at Old Trafford during the World Cup to end his second spell at the club six months before the end of his contract.

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“We are sad that Ronaldo is not part of it,” Eriksen said. “His legacy and his name at any club is special, for me to be fortunate to play with him in my career was very nice. The football goes on.

“You feel that the next game after, people will forget what it was like before and now our focus is really like he is not here.”

In Ronaldo’s absence, United have restarted their domestic campaign with back-to-back wins over Burnley and Nottingham Forest.

The 3-0 victory over Forest on Tuesday moved Erik ten Hag’s side to within a point of the top four having started the season with consecutive defeats to Brighton and Brentford.

“We are in a good place,” Eriksen added. “The start of the season is very different compared to now, the football is different now to the beginning, it was a bit hit-and-miss in some games but I think after that we picked up, we have been building since.

“You feel that in the group, you feel that the system is working which is something you have to believe in and I think we are doing that.”

United are back in action against Wolves on Saturday to kick-start a run of five games in 15 days in three competitions.

“The atmosphere is good,” Eriksen said. “We have a lot of people coming back from the World Cup, the last guys are coming back and everyone is coming together. The atmosphere is good.

“It helps winning games and also before we went away for the World Cup we had a few good games and good wins and it makes it easier to come back and start like this.”