Ten Hag issues brutal statement addressing Ronaldo's Manchester United exit, he's made his feelings clear

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag issued a brutal statement addressing Cristiano Ronaldo’s acrimonious exit from the club.

Ronaldo has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons these past 24 hours. The 37-year-old was demoted to the bench for a World Cup round-of-16 fixture against Switzerland after Portugal manager Fernando Santos criticised the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s reaction to being substituted in the previous game.

Santos’ courage was rewarded, with Portugal battering the Swiss 6-1 and Ronaldo’s 21-year-old replacement Goncalo Ramos netting a hat-trick and providing an assist.

Of course, this was just the latest dispute between Ronaldo and a manager in the player’s dwindling career.

Ronaldo left United by mutual consent on the eve of the World Cup, having been at loggerheads with ten Hag throughout the season.

The rather sizeable straw that broke the camel's back was a bombshell interview Ronaldo gave to TalkTV, in which he admitted feeling “betrayed” by Man Utd and claimed he had no respect for ten Hag.

Ten Hag’s Ronaldo response

Ten Hag issued a pithy response to Ronaldo’s United departure in an interview with the club’s in-house media.

The manager said: “He’s gone and it’s the past.

“We are now looking forward and we’re looking to the future.”

Ronaldo’s souring relationship with United was sparked in the summer after the five-time Champions League winner failed to engineer a move to a Champions League club.

Once the season began the 37-year-old had to primarily settle for a bench role. The feud between player and manager deepened when the forward refused to come on against Tottenham Hotspur, leaving Old Trafford before the final whistle.

Ronaldo was subsequently disciplined and dropped for the Old Trafford club’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea.

After missing United’s final two games before the World Cup break against Aston Villa and Fulham, snippets of Ronaldo’s tell-all interview were revealed, completely breaking down the relationship between the player and his club.

Topics: Football, Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.