Cristiano Ronaldo snubbed Marcus Rashford when naming just three Man Utd players as 'top professionals'

Cristiano Ronaldo named just three Manchester United players as 'top professionals' as he discussed his second spell at the club.

Earlier this week, Marcus Rashford appeared to hit back at rumours around his lack of professionalism as he spoke to journalist Henry Winter about being "ready" for a new challenge.

“I do feel misunderstood but I’m fine with it," he said. "I’m a very simple person. I love football. That’s been my life from the beginning.”

Rashford was dropped from Ruben Amorim's matchday squad for last weekend's Premier League clash against Manchester City, which raised questions about his attitude and professionalism.

Amorim confirmed that there were no disciplinary issues behind the decision to drop both Alejandro Garnacho and Rashford, but he appeared to question their performances in training.

With all that being said, Ronaldo did not mention Rashford as he name-checked three players he believed had been “top professionals” during his second spell at Old Trafford.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner did, however, bring up fellow Portugal international Diogo Dalot as someone who was professional, and tipped him to be at the top level for a long period.

Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro, who Ronaldo played with at Real Madrid, were also singled out for their dedication.

Asked about which players he admires during the infamous interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo replied: "In Manchester United I can mention Dalot, he's young, but very professional but I don't doubt that he's going to have longevity in football because he's young, he's smart, intelligent and he's very professional."

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Ronaldo also criticised the younger generation of players in today's game, saying they lack the same 'hunger' players did when he was coming through.

"I don't think they don't respect the more experienced players or the older players, but they live in a different era. I can say that for my kid that's 12 years old, the mentality is not the same," he said.

"Their hunger [is different]. I think they have things more easily, everything's easy, they don't suffer - and they don't care."

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He added: "I don't mean only a few in Manchester United, but all the teams in all leagues in the world, the youngers are not the same of my generation. But you cannot blame them, because it's part of the life and the new generation, the new technologies that distract them.

"They listen but this is why we have two ears, as you listen from one side and they go away from another side."