Cristiano Ronaldo unspun: Calling out Glazers, criticism from Rooney and how close was City deal?

On almost joining Manchester City

“I wouldn’t say that Manchester City wasn’t close … Sir Alex Ferguson said to me, ‘It’s impossible for you to come to Manchester City’ and I say, ‘OK, boss’. So I took the decisions and I repeat, I was with conscience that it was a good decision.“ The interest in Ronaldo from City in the summer of 2021 was real. Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, put the idea to City during a week-long visit to Manchester and, despite City’s scepticism that Ronaldo would ever wear sky blue and play for United’s rivals, Mendes was adamant that it was a possibility.

From City’s side, there was an awareness that Pep Guardiola wanted a proven goalscorer. With a year to go before Erling Haaland’s release clause would become active, Harry Kane was the priority, but Tottenham Hotspur refused to let their talisman leave. Ronaldo, who had just scored 36 goals for Juventus the previous season and five at the Euros for Portugal, was worth considering.

While City weighed up the pros and cons of signing a then 36-year-old Ronaldo – his suitability to the team’s style of play and his hefty wages of more than pounds 400,000 a week – United intervened. Aware of City’s interest, and eager to avoid another PR disaster with their fans only a few months after the failed European Super League project, Ferguson persuaded Ronaldo to return.

City have reacted with surprise this week to Ronaldo claiming a deal had been close but it is likely that both City and Ronaldo are overplaying their hand here. City were interested but not certain and in any case, it didn’t matter. Ferguson stepped in to ensure that United were the only option.

On a lack of progress off the pitch

“I don’t know what’s going on but since Sir Alex Ferguson left I saw no evolution in the club. The progress was zero. After they sacked Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer], they brought a sporting director, Ralf Rangnick, which is something that nobody understands. This guy is not even a coach. Nothing changes. Not even the pool, the jacuzzi, even the gym. Even some points of technology. The kitchen, the chefs, who I appreciate are lovely people. The club stops in time. It surprises me a lot.“ Ronaldo’s disappointment with United’s progress off the pitch has some merit. United moved into their Carrington base in 2000 and it is true that it is no longer among the very best training grounds in Europe. In England, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City have since installed more modern facilities, while Real Madrid’s Valdebebas centre, where Ronaldo spent nine years, remains one of the most spectacular.

That said, Carrington is hardly a dump and United are aware of the need for improvements, with plans already in place to add new changing rooms, offices, gyms, restaurants and swimming pools. Ronaldo’s frustration with the pool and jacuzzi would be better targeted at Old Trafford, which is in desperate need of attention and lags considerably behind the best and biggest stadiums in the world.

Ronaldo’s disappointment with Rangnick’s short spell in charge is understandable – the German arrived in the wrong role and a decade too late – but questioning the continuity of everyday staff was strange. When Solskjaer returned, he was delighted to see old faces still working around the club and said their loyalty made United special.

On criticism from Wayne Rooney

“I don’t know why he [Rooney] criticises me so bad.” Is he jealous? “Probably, because he finished his career in his thirties and I’m still playing at a high level. I’m not going to say I’m looking better than him, which is true. It’s hard to listen to that kind of criticism and negative [from players] that played with you … it’s disappointing.“ Ronaldo is on shaky ground here, even ignoring the petty, personal jibes about Rooney’s age and looks. Ronaldo may remember that when he was 18 and struggling to settle at United, it was Rooney who went with him to training and matches, introducing him to McDonald’s as he tried to bulk up for the Premier League. Ronaldo may also remember he has a record of criticising teammates himself. “If we were all at my level, maybe we would be first,” he said of his Real Madrid colleagues in 2016. “I don’t mean that Jese, Lucas [Vazquez] and [Mateo] Kovacic are not good – but to win a competition you need the best.”

Rooney’s analysis was also fair. He was not criticising Ronaldo’s ability but his longevity in this second United spell, an observation that appears to be correct. “I think United should let Cristiano Ronaldo go,” Rooney wrote in his Sunday Times column in August. “It’s not that Ronaldo can’t play in a Ten Hag team. He can play in any team. Ronny will always score you goals. But my personal view is that United aren’t ready to challenge for the title now, so the aim has to be to build a team that can win the league in the next three to four years.”

On the United owners

“The Glazers, they don’t care about the club. I mean, in professional sport, Manchester is a marketing club. They will get their money from the marketing – the sport, they don’t really care in my opinion.“ Ronaldo calling out the Glazers for prioritising United’s commercial interests over success on the pitch is justified, even commendable, given others’ reluctance. United’s commercial income increased by 500 per cent between 2005 and 2020 but after winning 13 Premier League titles between 1992 and 2013, they have failed to win any since. The owners are a huge factor in the team’s long-term malaise.

But Ronaldo taking aim at the highest echelons of the club has a more immediate significance for him. Criticising those in power, whom he admits he has never met, suggests the underlying motivation for this interview was not to uncover truths, but to secure an exit. It demonstrates a belief from the Portuguese, and perhaps his agent, that the quickest route out of Old Trafford is to torch his relationship with every figure of authority there. Only the fans are spared, presumably an attempt to preserve Ronaldo’s legacy. Whether he achieved that is doubtful.

On Ten Hag and betrayal

“I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me. If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never gonna have respect for you.”

“I shouldn’t say that [United are trying to force him out] but I don’t care, people should listen to the truth – yes, I feel betrayed, and I felt some people don’t want me here, not only this year but last year too.“ Ten Hag was apparently furious after hearing Ronaldo’s comments but he may look back in a few months and feel this was a crucial episode in establishing his authority as Manchester United manager. Nobody can accuse Ten Hag of acting out of turn. After Ronaldo refused to come on as a substitute in the win over Tottenham, Ten Hag dropped him for the next game against Chelsea but brought him back, holding talks and then extending an olive branch as he briefly made him captain. By undermining Ten Hag, Ronaldo has only served to unite the dressing room, and a large section of the fans, in support of the manager.

The betrayal is Ronaldo’s, of Ten Hag, his teammates and United, the club that made him after signing him as a teenager from Sporting Lisbon in 2003. Through hard work and vast talent, Ronaldo became a sensation, one of the greatest ever, but he has been a long way from that in recent months. This season, he has three goals in 18 games, two of them against FC Sheriff in the Europa League. The histrionics have been more explosive than the performances, which brings to mind Ferguson’s words in 2013: “The minute a Manchester United player thought he was bigger than the manager, he had to go.”

– The Sunday Times

Originally published as Cristiano Ronaldo unspun: Calling out Glazers, criticism from Rooney and how close was City deal?