Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen has said that the club's players "are sad" that Cristiano Ronaldo has left the club.

Ronaldo's contract was terminated at the end of November following the explosive interview that he gave to Piers Morgan on TalkTV.

The 37-year-old only managed three goals for the Red Devils in the first half of the 2022-23 campaign, but his departure has left the team short of options at centre-forward.

Man United have impressed in their two competitive matches since Ronaldo's exit, beating Championship leaders Burnley 2-0 in the EFL Cup last week before recording a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Tuesday night.

Eriksen has said that the players were "sad" to learn of Ronaldo's exit, but the Denmark international has insisted that the club are already moving on from his departure.

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"First of all, we are sad that Ronaldo is not part of it. 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," Eriksen told reporters.

"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."

Marcus Rashford has scored against both Burnley and Forest since returning from the World Cup, and Eriksen has lavished praise on the attacker for his display against the latter.

The England international made the breakthrough in the 19th minute of the match from an Eriksen assist before turning provider for Anthony Martial, who doubled the home side's advantage in the 23rd minute.

"He played very well, and luckily I haven't been on the pitch where he has played a bad game yet. I let him continue that, he is looking sharp and confident, and you can feel that when he is going forward," said Eriksen.

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"You feel that in the stadium, and you feel that with him, and it is a nice thing, and I hope he keeps it going.

"You can see that he came back pretty confident. I didn't see as much of his (England) games, of course, you guys will have seen more, but he came back in good shape, and luckily he has taken that into United."

Man United are working to bring a new striker to the club this month, with head coach Erik ten Hag looking for another player to battle Rashford and Martial for the centre-forward spot.

However, a recent report claimed that the club are only looking at the loan market.

The 20-time English champions will be looking to further boost their top-four challenge in the Premier League when they head to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.