Former Manchester United forward and legend Cristiano Ronaldo has finally addressed his acrimonious exit from Manchester United.
A spiral of misfortunes grounded the career of Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United to a halt.
The celebrated hero of the club suddenly turned a villain after his less-glittering second season with Manchester United.
Manchester United’s wrecking and sinking ship got a new shipmaster in the person of Erik Ten Hag but it appeared the Portugal international’s form was marred beyond repair and was deepened under Erik ten Hag.
In his first season with the club, the 38-year-old had a pretty good season, netting 24 goals in all competition although the team failed to qualify for Champions League.
After Erik Ten Hag took over, a spiraling set of events resulted in one of the least-expected stand-offs that climaxed in the termination of Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract at Old Trafford.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner witnessed an unprecedented slump in his career under Erik Ten Hag.
More often than not, he was left on the bench and had lost his starting berth under the new manager.
The former Ajax manager always gave the nod to Marcus Rashford, Antony Martial, and Jadon Sancho on Manchester United’s attacking setup, leaving the club’s legend rotting on the bench.
On-field and off-field collisions with Erik Ten Hag were reported but things got worse when the Real Madrid all-time top-scorer refused to come on as a substitute in Manchester United’s Premier League win over Tottenham at Old Trafford.
Cristiano Ronaldo stormed off the pitch with fury and headed down the tunnel. He was suspended from Manchester United’s first team and later restored but it was evident his days at the club were numbered.
At the height of his standoff, Cristiano Ronaldo granted a bombshell interview alleging disrespect and betrayal by Erik Ten Hag and Manchester United’s hierarchy.
After the interview, his Manchester United contract was terminated with few months remaining to the end of his two-year deal with the club.
His blighted trail at Old Trafford club crept into his World Cup spell with Portugal in Qatar. Cristiano Ronaldo scored only one goal in the tournament and was caught up in bust-ups with then-Portugal manager Fernandez Santos.
He cut a frustrated figure on the Portugal bench after he was axed off the team’s starting lineup in round 16 clash with Switzerland following the bust-up.
After the World Cup, Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr as a free agent after a failed attempt to secure a move to a Champions League club.
After an underwhelming start to life in Saudi Arabia football, the 38-year-old seems to have gotten over his gloomy last days at Old Trafford and has set straight again his career path.
He is the highest-paid footballer in the history of the game, earning £174m annually at Al-Nassr.
After 9 games, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 8 goals for Al-Nassr and is hoping to win the Saudi Pro League title in his debut season for the club.
At 38, Cristiano Ronaldo has been named in Portugal’s Euros 2024 qualifiers and will be lineup against Liechtenstein in their first game.
Speaking in a post-match press conference ahead of the game against Liechtenstein, Cristiano Ronaldo spoke up on his acrimonious exit from Manchester United.
He described the sour and disenchanting scenario which played out as a “bad phase” in his career which he has moved on from.
“‘I have no problem saying I had a bad phase of my career, but there’s no time for regrets”, he said.
”Life goes on and, doing well or not, it was part of my growth. When we are at the top of the mountain, we often cannot see what is below.
”Now, I’m more prepared and learning that was important, because I had never been through this, like in the last few months. Now I’m a better man,” he said.
Cristiano Ronaldo is set to become the most capped player in international football history when he features for Portugal against Liechtenstein. It will be his 197th appearance.
