Cristiano Ronaldo is only ‘thinking about himself’ and is being ‘unrealistic’ with the expectations that he’s placing on Manchester United.
That’s the view of former Manchester United striker Louis Saha, who was Ronaldo’s team-mate for five years at Old Trafford.
The 37-year-old stunned Erik ten Hag and United’s board by requesting to leave the club last month and he reiterrated his desire to do so when he returned to training last Tuesday, having missed the club’s tour.
Ronaldo returned to United last summer for a fee of £12m, signing an initial two-year deal at the club and the Red Devils have the option of extending that by a further 12 months.
But he’s requested to leave less than a year after returning after the club failed to qualify for the Champions League.
And, speaking to , Saha has criticised Ronaldo’s decision and says the Portugal captain has been naive with his move to Old Trafford.
‘In some way, from ’s point of view it’s a bit unrealistic to ask now a club of this size to adapt to him and his dream,’ said Saha.
‘Even last year, I’m sorry but the magic could have happened and everything could have gone well and they won the and the Premier League and there we go, he could say that he could stay because he had participated in that. It was unrealistic that just his arrival would have changed all this.
‘Asking that again after a poor season and maybe not great transfer market business in his view, I don’t really understand how dramatic it is to change and to do all those things. I think that last year he had been in but they hadn’t won the Champions League.
‘I’m not Cristiano but as someone who seems to be a supporter of , I have felt like he hasn’t shown completely enough of that, he is thinking about himself.
‘I am not going to judge him because he is an immense player and I’m not in his position, but I would have loved him to stay because he’s a terrific player. No-one can judge his actions at this moment because it’s his own career.’
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