Cristiano Ronaldo in his interview stated that Manchester United’s head coach Erik Ten Hag provoked him and the management are investigating it.
The declaration comes after the final segment of the interview, which aired on TalkTV on Thursday night, in which Ronaldo claimed that manager Erik ten Hag “provoked” him after the player declined to enter the game against Tottenham last month and left Old Trafford before the final whistle.
Additionally, Ronaldo claimed that Ten Hag “does not respect” him in the manner he “deserves.”
The Sun originally published quotes from the interview on Sunday evening, after which United announced they will think about their response “after the full facts have been established”.
The club has already released a brief statement. The entire interview was shown in two parts on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Manchester United has this morning initiated appropriate steps in response to Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent media interview,” the club said on Friday, November 18.
“We will not be making further comment until this process reaches its conclusion.”
Ronaldo stated in part two of his interview with Morgan that he turned down a €350 million (£305 million) contract to play in Saudi Arabia this summer and that he had “several offers” to quit Manchester United.
Cristiano Ronaldo revealed he was “close” to moving to Manchester City last summer before Sir Alex Ferguson intervened in clips from the same interview that were previously broadcast this week.
Ronaldo was also particularly critical of the Ralf Rangnick era and the club’s crop of young players.
Ronaldo on why he left the stadium in Tottenham match
When Ten Hag did not use him as a substitute in the 6-3 loss at Manchester City earlier in the month, Ronaldo refused to be used as a substitute against Tottenham in October.
He said: “You don’t put me on against Manchester City because of respect for my career and you want to put me on for three minutes against Tottenham? It doesn’t make sense.”
“I think he did it on purpose. I felt provoked not only because of that game, but before. He doesn’t respect [me] the way I should deserve.”
“But it is what it is. This is why probably, the game against Tottenham, I left.”
“I will be honest with you, it’s something that I regret, leaving the stadium [against Tottenham]. Probably, or maybe no, I don’t know.”
“It’s difficult to tell you 100 per cent but let’s say I regret, but in the same way I felt provoked by the coach.”
“A coach to put me in three minutes in a game [is] not allowed for me. Sorry, I’m not that kind of player. I know what I can give to the teams.”
“Don’t tell me that the top players, the guys who want everything, the key players will play three minutes. Come on, this is unacceptable.”
“After what they keep saying before, that they respect me. For me it was not respect, this is why I take this decision I regret.”
“I apologised to my team-mates for the situation, I did a post – I regret leaving the stadium. I regret my team-mates know what I felt, and I apologised.”
“The coach didn’t have respect for me. So this is why the relationship, it’s in that way. He keeps saying in the press that he come to me, he like me blah, blah, blah. But that’s only for the press. One hundred per cent.”
“If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never going to have respect for you.”
When he left the Old Trafford preseason match between Man Utd and Rayo Vallecano early in July, Ronaldo added: “Me and eight players [left], but they mentioned only my name. Last year, many players did the same. In that game, eight players do the same but they only speak about the black sheep, which is me.”
“I completely understand, okay, it’s done, I apologise to the coach and for me, the chapter was closed.”
What next for Cristiano Ronaldo?
Ronaldo’s future at Manchester United is in doubt as a result of his contentious choice to disparage the team prior to the 2022 World Cup.
Following his TV interview with Piers Morgan, the 37-year-old Portuguese international shocked Old Trafford by criticizing the team’s lack of ambition and outright declaring his disrespect for head coach Erik ten Hag.
Given that Cristiano Ronaldo has already joined Fernando Santos’ team in preparation for the trip to Qatar, United will look into the situation during the World Cup break.
On Nov. 18, United released the following statement: “Manchester United has this morning initiated appropriate steps in response to Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent media interview. We will not be making further comment until this process reaches its conclusion.”
At this point, it’s unknown what consequences Ronaldo may experience.
Ronaldo’s situation in Manchester appears to be getting worse after an ugly exchange with United colleague Bruno Fernandes in Lisbon. If a deal can be done, United will probably try to let him go in the mid-season market.
