Cristiano Ronaldo laid out his grievances with Manchester United during a tell-all interview with Piers Morgan.
While there was some sympathy for his frustrations with the club’s lack of success, strategy and facilities – his lack of respect for manager Erik ten Hag was unacceptable.
Ronaldo believes he should be a regular starter – which his performances have failed to back up.
This all came to a head late against Tottenham when Ronaldo refused to come off the bench for the final two minutes and stormed off down the tunnel.
‘Ronaldo was humiliated’
Cristiano Ronaldo expressed in his interview that he felt this treatment is beneath him.
He has been backed by Portuguese football great Paulo Futre, the 1987 Ballon d’Or runner-up behind Ruud Gullit.
Futre believes special players should get special treatment, and argues that Ronaldo is right to feel the way he does.
He told Mais Futebol: “Never seen a coach tell Cristiano Ronaldo to enter with two minutes to go. This is creating a conflict, it’s a lack of respect.
“More than disrespect, it’s a humiliation.
“He’s got five Golden Balls, he can never get in with two minutes left. Normal players can enter two minutes away.
“Whoever does this to a player who has five Golden Balls is humiliating him.
“A player like Ronaldo can’t be humiliated. This leads to a number of problems.”
Futre, a star back in his day, long before his late stint at West Ham in the mid-90s, said he would have reacted similarly to Ronaldo.
He added: “The coach has to tell him that 15 or 20 minutes enter. If you don’t say anything and tell him two minutes from the end to get in… I wouldn’t go in! But I was also much more rebellious than Cristiano Ronaldo. From that moment on, the problems came.”
This is undoubtedly new territory for Ronaldo, who has always been a regular starter at whichever club he is playing for.
He admitted in his interview that he has had a lack of motivation in recent games for United, with the whole situation creating a vicious cycle.
Ronaldo’s future at United is expected to soon come to an end. BBC Sport report United are exploring legal action to terminate his contract.
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