Wayne Rooney says Cristiano Ronaldo's Man Utd departure is a 'shame'

Wayne Rooney has had his say about Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Manchester United, after the striker agreed a termination of his contract with the club.

Ronaldo's explosive interview was always likely to lead to him leaving Old Trafford, with the 37-year-old criticising all sorts of aspects of life at United.

Following criticism of the players and the manager, it was reported that his teammates didn't want the forward to return to the club after the World Cup.

They will be left extremely happy then, with the news on Tuesday from the club that the two parties had agreed to a mutual termination of the player's contract.

One of the groups in the firing line during Ronaldo's interview were his former teammates, with Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney both criticised.

When it came to his fellow forward, Ronaldo hit back at previous criticism from the DC United manager, claiming Rooney was jealous of the fact he was still playing, as well as a dig at the England record holders looks.

At least Rooney has more class than that and his response to the news was altogether more classy, deciding against criticising his ex colleague.

Speaking about Ronaldo's departure, Rooney even went as far as saying as it was a 'shame,' and wished him well in the future.

"Am I surprised? No," the former England captain told Sport 18.

"There was no other choice but that's a shame because he's been a fantastic servant to the club.

"I wish him the best wherever he goes."

Rooney and Ronaldo had some great times together in the latter's first spell at United. Image: Alamy

Rooney's crimes against Ronaldo, that made the five time Ballon d'Or winner speak out against his fellow 37-year-old, was to question the Portual stars future at United.

'Wazza' hadn't exactly ripped into Ronaldo saying that his ex teammate was "obviously not the player he was when he was 22 or 23."

The former Everton striker did say that Ronaldo was one of the greatest players in the history of football alongside Lionel Messi, some real criticism.

Rooney did say in the summer that his former club should sell the striker, who tried to leave at that time, but even in that opinion he wasn't critical.

"It's not that Ronaldo can't play in a Ten Hag team. He can play in any team," Rooney said.

"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, and you have to plan for that.

"If the reports are true that Cristiano wants to leave the club, then United should allow him to go and get a No 9 in who is going to be there for the next three or four years and really help them build a team that can be successful.

"Ten Hag has to be given time to do it."

No wonder Ronaldo was so harsh about him...