It’s very safe to say now that Cristiano Ronaldo will never play for Manchester United again. There is no way back into the team now, as he went on a talk show and said he felt betrayed by manager Erik ten Hag, and the leadership of the club itself.
As we said in a previous article, this team cannot move forward and Ten Hag cannot rebuild the club until Ronaldo is gone. And now the chance is here for the mutual parting of ways.
“Since Sir Alex Ferguson left I saw no evolution in the club, the progress was zero.”
Don’t miss Piers Morgan’s 90 Minutes with Ronaldo. Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm on TalkTV.@cristiano | @piersmorgan | @TalkTV | #PMU pic.twitter.com/VextyEu7f9
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) November 13, 2022
Ronaldo went on Piers Morgan’s show, and he simply just did not hold back.
“Not only the coach but the other two or three guys around the club,” Ronaldo responded when asked if United are trying to force him out of the club.
“I felt betrayed.”
Ronaldo continued:
“Honestly I should not say that. I don’t know. I don’t care. People should always listen to the truth. Yes, I feel betrayed and I felt that some people don’t want me here [at Manchester United]. Not only this year but last year too.”
Ronaldo, who missed the last two games with an unspecified illness, but was said by Ten Hag to be potentially available tonight against Fulham said this about his gaffer:
“I don’t have respect for Erik ten Hag because he doesn’t show respect for me,” Ronaldo said. “If you don’t have respect for me, I will never have any for you.”
Yikes! That probably means he’ll be released during this World Cup break or jettisoned during the January transfer window. What he said next means he’s almost certainly out the door now, well ahead of when his contract expires six months from now.
“Since Sir Alex Ferguson left I saw no evolution in the club, the progress was zero,” Ronaldo added.
“I saw no evolution in the club. Nothing had changed. He [Ferguson] knows better than anybody that the club is not on the path they deserve to be.
“He knows. Everyone knows. The people who don’t see that. It’s because they don’t want to see; they are blind.”
It’s safe to say his return to the club, in 2021, has now degenerated into a total disaster. The “illness” excuse for his absence was obviously a lie. Ditto for the “family issues” rationale that was stated as the reason for his missing summer preseason.
Ronaldo has walked out of games and left the stadium early not once, but twice this term, seeing him dropped from the squad after the second instance.
It’s too bad Ronaldo could not find a new team this past summer, because his exit is very long overdue.
Paul M. Banks is the Owner/Manager of The Sports Bank and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly contributed to WGN News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow the website on Instagram.