Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has had a difficult season with Erik ten Hag....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Manchester United icon Dwight Yorke has revealed that he spoke with Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the season, and the five-time Ballon d’Or winner told him details that he claims would cost the club £5million for him to keep quiet.
The Portuguese forward has had a difficult season, having made just two Premier League starts under Erik ten Hag and refused to come off the bench in the win over Tottenham, prompting the Dutchman to drop him from the squad to face Chelsea.
Yorke spoke to Ronaldo at the club while he was undertaking his coaching badges before Ten Hag was appointed as United boss, and that conversation could be costly if Yorke spilt the details.
“With the record he has against Spurs, he will have been disappointed that he wasn’t playing,” Yorke told Lord Ping.
“When I spoke with him six months ago, I spent 30 minutes with him after training. I saw a guy that was passionate and wanted to remain at the club. Then, over the summer, the whole thing escalated.
“I think the club has missed the boat. I think Ten Hag missed that moment to find out where Ronaldo’s head was at before the season started. I’d be amazed if he didn’t have that conversation with his superstar player.
In the conversation I had with him, I got so much information that if I were to reveal some of the things that he told me, I think United would have probably paid me £5million to keep quiet.”
Ronaldo attempted to leave Old Trafford in the summer for a Champions League club but a move failed to materialise, and Yorke feels that Ten Hag made a mistake in opting not to give him the captaincy in favour of Harry Maguire retaining the armband when there were calls to remove the England man as the dressing room leader.
“He was really passionate and wanted to remain at United,” Yorke added. “He wanted to win or bring back some sort of respectability to the football club. I feel that United should have given him the captaincy.
“When we spoke, he was frustrated. He was hurting. At this point Ten Hag hadn’t been appointed, but he was angry with how the season played out.
I think there was an opportunity for Ten Hag to manage Ronaldo in a different way, with a clean slate, and the captaincy would have shown the player how much he was valued at the club. I think that would have propelled him to be even better for United.”
There has been plenty of speculation over Ronaldo’s future at Old Trafford, as he could leave in search of more playing time in January but Yorke has revealed that the 37-year-old only sees himself in the game for one more season after the current campaign.
“I think the relationship with ten Hag seems to have gone from bad to worse,” he said. “He was alright for a period of time and the Spurs game tipped him over the edge.
“Where does he go from here? Tomorrow, he can just walk away from the game because of what he’s achieved. Going back to the conversation I had with him, he told me that he thinks he can play for one more season after this year. Unfortunately, like for all players, it comes to an end at some point.”
