Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has, on Sunday, finally broken his silence regarding his current situation at Old Trafford.
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The name of Portuguese icon Ronaldo, of course, has continued to steal the headlines across the season to date.
In stark contrast to years gone by, however, this time round, such chatter has not come owing to the veteran attacker’s impact on the pitch.
Instead, CR7 has been under the microscope as a result of Erik ten Hag’s decision to demote the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to something of a backup role.
Across United’s 14 Premier League fixtures to date, Ronaldo has featured from the off in only four.
To this point, the 37-year-old, to his credit, had largely bitten his tongue when it comes to his reduced role, albeit whilst making his frustrations clear courtesy of several public outbursts.
Late on Sunday, however, as alluded to above, fresh quotes attributed to Ronaldo have come to the fore.
And, safe to say, the Portuguese is no longer prepared to hold back.
Speaking in an interview with presenter Piers Morgan, Ronaldo has absolutely torn into not only Manchester United as a collective, but head coach Erik ten Hag from an individual standpoint, too.
Check out the best of the quotes from CR7′s rant below:
“Yes [I’m being forced out]. Not only the coach, but another two of three guys around. I felt betrayed.”
“People should listen to the truth. Yes, I feel betrayed and I felt that some people didn’t want me here, not just this year, but last year too.”
On Erik ten Hag:
“I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me.”
“If you don’t have respect for me, I will never have any for you.”
On Red Devils legend Wayne Rooney:
“I don’t know why he criticises me so badly, probably because he finished his career and I’m still playing at high level. I’m not going to say that I’m looking better than him, which is true...”
On former interim manager Ralf Rangnick:
“If you’re not even a coach, how are you going to be the boss of Man Utd? I’d never even heard of him.”
Ronaldo also went on to reveal that he was left disappointed by a lack of ‘empathy’ on the part of the powers that be at Old Trafford, upon his three-month-old daughter being hospitalised in July.
The striker pointed to as much being behind his delayed return for pre-season training.
He continued:
“Nothing has changed here since Sir Alex left. When I decided to return to Manchester United, I followed my heart. Sir Alex Ferguson said to me: ‘It’s impossible for you to come to Manchester City!’. And I said: ‘Okay, Boss’”.
“A club with this dimension should be top of the tree in my opinion and they are not unfortunately.”
“I think the fans should know the truth. I want the best for the club. This is why I come to Manchester United, but you have some things inside [the club] that don’t help reach the top level as City, Liverpool and even now Arsenal.”
“As Picasso said, you have to destroy it to rebuild it and if they start with me, for me, it’s not a problem.”
“I love Manchester United, I love the fans, they’re always on my side. But if they want to do it different… they have to change many, many things.”
“The fans for me are everything. This is why I give this interview, because I think it’s the right time to speak my mind.”
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