Cristiano Ronaldo 'called for Harry Maguire to be demoted' and said he was 'part of the problem' at Man United

Citing sources inside the club, the outlet alleges that Ronaldo was part of a group of players (which also included Raphael Varane and Paul Pogba) who went up to Rangnick at Carrington back in February.

During this meeting with the former Man United manager, it is thought that Ronaldo accused Maguire of being "part of the problem", alluding to the England international's performance level.

However, far from taking this on board, Rangnick reportedly told the group that it was 'inappropriate' for them to be talking about the club captain while he was not present.

This wasn't Ronaldo's only complaint either, as his former manager's tactical system was also critiqued.

According to The Athletic's sources, the former Real Madrid man wanted Rangnick to deploy a formation which would have allowed him to play upfront alongside Edinson Cavani.

To his immense frustration, the German didn't oblige.

While many of United's problems last season were levelled at the coaching style of Rangnick, a change in manager hasn't led to a change in fortunes for Ronaldo.

Man United's two wins this season, against Liverpool and Southampton, both saw Ronaldo named among the substitutes.

"Forget who's starting in front of him, [that] he's not starting. You don't get to do what he's done in his career over this amazing amount of time at the levels he's been playing by being someone who's going to accept not starting and being a sub for a team that isn't in the Champions League.

"Whatever anyone says about running, pressing etc., he will be sitting there going 'I scored 24 goals last season. The hardest thing to do in football is putting the ball in the back of the net and I did it 24 times last year," he added.