- Portuguese wanted to leave over the summer
- Has struggled to make an impact since
- Making more negative headlines than positive
WHAT HAPPENED? The five-time Ballon d’Or winner had been hoping to elsewhere for the 2022-23 campaign, as he pushed to leave during the summer transfer window. The 37-year-old was ultimately forced to stay put and has made plenty of unwanted headlines after finding himself stuck on the bench, refusing to enter the field as a substitute and struggling for end product in a season that has only delivered three goals through 16 appearances.
WHAT THEY SAID: United legend Rooney has told talkSPORT of his former team-mate: “The career he's had, there's him and [Lionel] Messi as arguably the two best players of all time and you can go either way with that, but I just think the things he's done from the start of the season really, it's not acceptable for Manchester United. I see, obviously, Roy Keane defend him, but Roy wouldn't have said that. It's a distraction that Manchester United don't need at the minute [as they] try to rebuild, Cristiano should just get his head down and work and be ready to play when the manager needs him. If he does that, he'll be an asset, if he doesn't, it will become an unwanted distraction.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Ronaldo took the captain’s armband for United’s last Premier League outing, but saw the Red Devils suffer a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa and was not involved at all against the same opposition in midweek in the Carabao Cup.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
GettyNext Match
Getty Images
Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO? Ten Hag’s side have one more game to take in before the World Cup break, with that fixture set to see them head to Fulham on Sunday.