Cristiano Ronaldo plays for Manchester United in Rayo Vallecano friendly

Cristiano Ronaldo is back in Manchester United colours despite the ongoing uncertainty over his Old Trafford future.

The wantaway Portuguese star, 37, was pictured arriving for Erik ten Hag's side ahead of Sunday afternoon's friendly against Spanish club Rayo Vallecano.

It follows a week in which both sides dug in - with Ronaldo reiterating his desire to leave United in pursuit of Champions League football and the club once again insisting he wouldn't be sold.

Having missed United's 17-day tour of Thailand and Australia for family reasons, Ronaldo swept back into the club's Carrington training ground accompanied by his agent Jorge Mendes.

Ronaldo met with Ten Hag for a debrief of the pre-season trip and with the club's hierarchy over his future, in which neither side's position budged.

The player's issue is that one-by-one all potential suitors have ruled out taking on the burden of his £360,000-a-week wages, even if Ronaldo has suggested he will take a pay cut.

Atletico Madrid were the latest to turn him down following a backlash from fans towards a player who remains a legend across the city at the Bernabeu.

On Wednesday, Ronaldo trained away from the main group as he looks to build up his sharpness and he watched the behind-closed-doors friendly against Wrexham.

As the week drew on, there was a suggestion that Ronaldo would play a part in Sunday afternoon's game, having not been included in Saturday's 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in Oslo.

And Ronaldo himself confirmed this when he replied to an Instagram post by a fan account, saying 'On Sunday, the King plays.'

The player also posted a photo of himself on the training ground posing next to fringe players Amad Diallo, Charlie Savage and Hannibal Mejbri - he captioned the photo 'Working in progress…'.

Ten Hag himself confirmed Ronaldo's involvement after the Atletico game, saying: 'We'll see how long he can play.'

That duly came to pass as Ten Hag named a side heavily rotated from the one beaten on Saturday.

It remains to be seen what part Ronaldo will play in United's Premier League season opener at home to Brighton next Sunday.

What is for sure is that speculation over his future is set to dominate the opening weeks of United's campaign as Ten Hag works to reboot a team that could only qualify for the Europa League last season.

Anthony Martial, who has impressed during pre-season after his United career was written off at the beginning of the year, suffered a hamstring injury against Atletico which could make him a doubt for the opener.