Despite not being in action for another six weeks, Manchester United continue to hog all the media attention thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s incendiary interview with Piers Morgan.
The Portuguese did not hold back as he attacked the club for what he perceived to be ‘betrayal’ and new manager Erik ten Hag for not respecting him.
There were also attacks on the Glazers, the club’s outdated infrastructure and a few scathing remarks were also spoken about the club’s young players and former interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
CR7 burning all bridges
What was most painful to watch during the interaction was when he took pot-shots at former United teammates and club legends like Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville.
Morgan, a controversial figure, kept prodding the Portugal international to say something against Rooney who had criticised his behaviour in recent weeks.
And Ronaldo ultimately took the bait. “I don’t know why he criticises me so badly… probably because he finished his career and I’m still playing at a high level. I’m not going to say that I’m looking better than him. Which is true…”
And the television presenter was not done there. He asked about the United’s bank account and intentionally mentioned Rooney’s name to provoke a reaction from the striker.
Wayne Rooney responds to Cristiano Ronaldo’s interview.
Nothing but class and maturity 👏 … #mufc.pic.twitter.com/OxlwHVhBa8
— UtdFaithfuls (@UtdFaithfuls) November 18, 2022
And once again he obliged. “Do you have more pounds in the bank or more Instagram followers?” was the question posed by Morgan.
The 37-year-old, who currently has 497 million followers on the social media platform, cheekily replied, “Probably similar, I don’t know!”
Morgan was not done there. “I’m just trying to work out how Wayne Rooney could hate you even more, probably that’s the answer,” he further added.
Ronaldo replied, “Well, not only him, imagine the rest of the ‘rats’ that are going to criticise me too!”
Rooney’s classy response
Whatever the circumstances, the former Real Madrid star should not have stooped so low especially for someone he has shared a dressing room with and won many trophies during their time at United.
And the United record goalscorer got a chance to respond on Thursday.
The former England international was in Dubai to receive the the Player Career Award at the 2022 Globe Soccer Awards and was asked for his thoughts on Ronaldo’s bombshell comments.
“He’s a fantastic player. Him and Messi are probably the two best players to play the game. It’s not criticism, what I’ve said is age comes to all of us, Cristiano is finding it hard to deal with that.
“He’s done an interview and it’s gone global, Bit strange some of the comments but I’m sure United will deal with it once they see the full interview and take whatever action they need to take.”
Rooney showed his class with his measured comments on the contentious issue and it was refreshing to see a United legend speak in a manner befitting his stature.
