Cristiano Ronaldo is "finished" with Gary Neville after snubbing his former Manchester United skipper, Rio Ferdinand claims.
On Sunday, brutally pied Neville live on Sky Sports prior to United's 1-0 win over West Ham at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo shared an embrace with ex teammate Louis Saha and then shook hands with Jamie Redknapp near the pitch.
Advert
A new angle not on Sky's broadcast showed just how awkward it was, with Neville definitely preparing for a handshake.
Neville joined his Sky Sports colleague Jamie Carragher in being given the cold shoulder by Ronaldo, in what appears to be a direct response to his criticism of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Advert
Ferdinand shared success with both men at United and he believes Ronaldo will be in no rush to make amends.
"I don't think Cristiano is taking that call (if Neville calls him)," he said on his Vibe with Five YouTube podcast
"Knowing Cristiano it's gone isn't it. You've said what you said and believe what you believe.
Advert
"I think what I would have done differently if I was recreating that scenario, I would maybe have gone and shook a couple of hands and said: 'you talk too much, cya later' and then gone. Just a little jab in there.
"They would have (crossed paths), (Neville) would have gone to the gantry straightaway. You're not going to go and search out someone when you're preparing for a game.
"I see why people are saying he didn't need to do that but from a players' perspective, no player is happy when a pundit is criticising them.
"They were team-mates but they aren't people that would share texts or stuff like that. And Cristiano respects Gary as well. "He respected him as one of the senior players at the club 100%. He would use that as fuel."
Advert
After his recent refusal to come on as a substitute, Neville, speaking after the 1-1 draw with Chelsea, stated it was time for United to 'end their relationship' with Ronaldo and suggested a solution be found.
He also went on record to say he believes Erik ten Hag's side are better off without him.
Ferdinand added that he could tell Neville was "nervous" and claims that it was "premeditated" by Ronaldo, who scored in the 3-0 Europa League win over Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday.
Advert
He continued: "Gary Neville got blanked! Nev looked nervous, I have seen that face before and he looked nervous 'is he gonna talk to me'.
"There's many ways you can look at this. he has blanked him it's premeditated 100%. If my man is out there he isn't getting a bar of love from me. He put it on him like that and Nev was standing there going, 'Ah god please say hello, please, please'. It didn't happen for him."
Neville looked after Ronaldo when he first arrived at United from Sporting CP in 2003, translating his first interview speaking English when he was named Man of the Match.
The former Valencia boss was rinsed by Micah Richards for the blanking, with Neville saying "If I had 570 million followers on Instagram I wouldn't be a**ed about Gary Neville!"
United are unbeaten in eight games under Ten Hag and travel to Real Sociedad for their final Europa League group game on Thursday.
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville
Josh Lawless