Cristiano Ronaldo says Man United doubted his reasons for late return to pre-season

Cristiano Ronaldo has blasted Manchester United for doubting the reasons behind his late return to pre-season training.

In an exclusive interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo has slammed United, Erik ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick and former teammate Wayne Rooney. But he has also taken aim at the club’s senior figures.

As per The Sun, Ronaldo’s newborn daughter, who was three months old at the time was taken to hospital in July. This is why the Portuguese failed to report to pre-season training on time.

However, Ronaldo told Morgan that some senior executives at the club doubted him, which made him feel “hurt” and “bad”. Whilst also claiming the club showed a lack of “empathy” during what he described as the “most difficult period of my life”.

Ronaldo spoke about the love he has for his family during his chat with Morgan. The 37-year-old said: “My family is everything to me. Even more so after what we have been through this year.”

In April, Ronaldo and his partner, Georgina had to experience the loss of their baby son during childbirth, with the boy’s twin sister surviving.

After news broke of the tragedy, Ronaldo was given compassionate leave and missed the club’s next match against Liverpool.

However, he and his family were touched by the tribute given to him by both sets of supporters at Anfield.

He said: “I never expected to see that,” after seeing the whole stadium sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone in the seventh minute.

During the bombshell interview, Ronaldo also spoke about United’s lack of progress since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.

He said: “As Picasso said, you have to destroy it to rebuild it (the artist’s exact quote was: ‘Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.’) and if they start with me, for me, it’s not a problem.

“I love Manchester United, I love the fans, they’re always on my side. But if they want to do it different… they have to change many, many things.”

This interview is likely to signal the end of Ronaldo’s United career. A career that started so brilliantly but is now ending very bitterly.

Will we see Ronaldo play for United again? I think not.