Cristiano Ronaldo snubbed Marcus Rashford when naming the three 'top professionals' in the Man Utd squad

Cristiano Ronaldo once snubbed Marcus Rashford when naming the top three professionals in the Manchester United squad.

Ronaldo left Manchester United by mutual consent at the close of 2022 after taking part in a tell-all Talk TV interview in which he was deeply critical of the club, its manager Erik ten Hag, and owners the Glazer family.

In the same interview, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner shed light on the personalities of his team-mates and even listed the top three professionals at United during his second spell at the club.

Asked about which players he admired, Ronaldo replied: "In Manchester United, I can mention [Diogo] Dalot. He's young but very professional and I don't doubt that he's going to have longevity in football because he's young, smart, intelligent and very professional.

“Probably [Lisandro] Martinez, Casemiro is in his 30s, but I will say Dalot."

At the time, it was remarked upon that Ronaldo had snubbed United talisman Rashford when listing the best professionals at the club.

The historical snub feels pertinent given Rashford appears to be in Ten Hag's bad books at present.

On Sunday Ten Hag promised to deal with the absence of Rashford after the England star missed United’s 4-2 FA Cup victory at Newport County.

Rashford reported ill on Friday after allegedly spending the previous night at a Belfast nightclub.

Rashford was absent from United's last game (Getty)

"He reported ill," Ten Hag insisted after watching his side's FA Cup victory. "The rest is an internal matter. I deal with it, we will deal with it."

If Rashford has been punished for a disciplinary issue, it will be the second time in just over a year he has been dropped for such a matter.

The attacker was left out of United’s starting XI against Wolves in December 2022 after arriving late to a team meeting.

Rashford also had to apologise to Ten Hag earlier this season after having a birthday party hours after United had lost 3-0 to local rivals Manchester City.

"It is unacceptable," Ten Hag said at the time. "I told him, he apologised and that is it."

Topics: Marcus Rashford, Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Football, Premier League

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.