Jorge Jesus has laid out his plan for captain Cristiano Ronaldo, insisting the forward will stay a symbol of Portugal and that his name is written into the country's history.
The new Portugal boss replaced Spaniard Roberto Martinez after the national side crashed out of the 2026 World Cup in the last 16, beaten 1-0 by eventual champions Spain.
Ronaldo, 41, took plenty of stick throughout the campaign despite scoring three goals, with some suggesting he had become a burden on the team.
Speaking to Canal 11, Jesus said: "Ronaldo will not represent any problem for the national team or for me personally. As for the ongoing debate, everyone has the right to their opinion."
He added, as reported by "Foot Mercato": "When the time comes to make a decision, I will speak individually with Cristiano and with all the other players."
He continued: "Cristiano is a symbol of Portugal, and his name will be immortalised in history. I enjoyed working with him a lot (at Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia). I do not judge a player based on his age, and this applies to Cristiano as well."
The former Benfica, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr manager stressed his squad for the first UEFA Nations League match against Wales on 24 September will not differ much from the 2026 World Cup group.
He explained: "Some might think that the new manager will come in and make a lot of changes to the players. But that will not happen. I am not naive. Furthermore, I do not have enough time to call up the many players who were not selected for this squad. There are not a large number of players to choose from."
He noted: "Over the next four years, new players will undoubtedly emerge. And the squad (for the UEFA Nations League) will not be far from the 2026 World Cup squad. Two or three new players, something of that sort."
Jesus also fired a warning to his future players: "If the national team does not deliver a better performance than the one it produced at the World Cup, I will not be able to deliver a better performance. My coaching staff and I need to play more matches, otherwise we will remain here nurturing a dream we have had for years."
He concluded: "We have wonderful players, but we have not achieved many titles. We won the European Championship ten years ago, and we won the UEFA Nations League twice, which is not the most important tournament, but it is the hardest, because you always face the best European national teams. Just last year, the national teams of Portugal, France, Germany and Spain reached the finals."