Cristiano Ronaldo refused to come on as a substitute before storming down the tunnel and leaving Manchester United’s Premier League win over Tottenham early.
Ronaldo has been widely condemned for leaving the United bench and walking down the tunnel in the latter stages of United’s 2-0 victory over Spurs on Wednesday night.
The Daily Mail now say Ronaldo had refused to be introduced as a late substitute before he decided to storm off and leave the ground before his team-mates returned to the dressing room.
Erik ten Hag brought on Christian Eriksen and Anthony Elanga in the 87th-minute of Wednesday’s clash but it is claimed that the former Ajax boss wanted Ronaldo to come on, only to be disobeyed by the 37-year-old.
Speaking after Manchester United’s impressive win, Erik ten Hag said he had not seen or spoken to Ronaldo after the match but vowed to ‘deal with’ the situation on Thursday.
Ronaldo was seen driving into United’s Carrington training complex today, presumably to hold talks with Ten Hag.
According to the Daily Mail, the relationship between the pair is now at ‘breaking point’, with Ronaldo desperate to leave Old Trafford in January and Ten Hag happy to let him go.
The issue – as was the case last summer – is whether Ronaldo’s representatives can find a club that are able and willing to take on his massive salary.
If not, Ronaldo may have to wait until next summer to find a new club, although it remains to be seen whether that would spur the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to mend his relationship with Ten Hag.
Ronaldo has not found much support after his antics at Old Trafford, although Manchester United legend Bryan Robson attempted to play down the situation.
‘It’s the manager’s decision to how he handles it,’ Robson said on talkSPORT. ‘I was at the game last night, I didn’t see what happened.
‘I don’t even want to talk about it. It was about the performance and the way the lads are playing at the moment.
‘You’re going away from the most important thing, which was the team performance. The manager will sort it out. He’s strong enough, he’s disciplined.
‘For me, he will look after that. I’d much sooner talk about the performance of the team, not one individual.
‘One player doesn’t make a club. It’s about your team and your group and how you perform as a group.’
Former Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards, meanwhile, labelled Ronaldo’s behaviour ‘disrespectful’ and claimed he ‘needs’ to leave the club in January.
Speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day, Richards said: ‘For one of the greats of the game to do that when your team are winning, making it about him, is disappointing.
‘His manager had problems with him at the start of the season, during pre-season, and to then carry this on… I just think there is only one way this needs to go now.
‘They need to come to an agreement in January and they need to let him go. He is undermining the manager there, so I think it’s best if they just part ways.’
MORE : Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister aims dig at Erik ten Hag over Man Utd snub
MORE : Cristiano Ronaldo dropped from Manchester United squad for Chelsea clash
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
No comments:
Post a Comment