Aston Villa defender Ludwig Augustinsson has slammed Cristiano Ronaldo for the way he’s treated Manchester United following his interview with Piers Morgan.
The 37-year-old has claimed he’s been “betrayed” by the Red Devils and revealed that he has “no respect” for his current manager Erik ten Hag.
Comments from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s explosive interview went public just hours after United’s win against Fulham on Sunday night.
While Ten Hag and club officials were left shell-shocked, United’s number seven swanned off to Qatar for the World Cup having missed United’s last two games through illness.
The former Juventus striker is likely to have played his last game for the twenty-time league champions and his last appearance in a United shirt saw him captain the side in a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Augustinsson, who played in Villa’s 4-2 defeat to United in the Carabao Cup, was an unused substitute in Unai Emery’s first game in charge of the Birmingham-based club which yielded three points against Ten Hag’s side.
Aston Villa defender Ludwig Augustinsson slams Cristiano Ronaldo
While accepting that Ronaldo was “frustrated” with his situation at Old Trafford having failed to secure a summer exit to a Champions League club and being on the fringes of Ten Hag’s starting XI, Augustinsson felt one of the greatest players of all time knew the turbulence his interview would bring.
Speaking to Fotbollskanalen, Augustinsson said: “It could have been handled much more neatly. He knows that there is such turbulence when he makes such statements. As a player on another team and from the outside, you think it feels unnecessary.
“I’m surprised because it feels so explosive. That’s a lot of things at once. There’s so much talk out of this. Certainly, at the club [United] and of course in the whole world, because it’s one of the best players of all time.”
Villa’s number 17 revealed that him and his fellow countryman Robin Olsen, who also plays for the Villains, couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the comments Ronaldo had made.
The 48-time Sweden international added: “When Robin and I saw it in London, we were surprised. It could have been handled more neatly. You can tell he’s frustrated.”
While admitting he was curious to ask Manchester United duo and fellow Swedes Victor Lindelof and Anthony Elanga for further information regarding Ronaldo’s outburst, the left-back stated that he didn’t want to ask too many questions to the Red Devils pair.
Lindelof opted against giving his thoughts on Ronaldo’s interview when asked to comment, but his fellow United centre-back Raphael Varane admitted that the comments from United’s number seven would “affect” his teammates.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
