MY ACCOUNT
Cristiano Ronaldo alleged some members of Manchester United’s hierarchy did not believe his reasoning for missing pre-season when his daughter was in hospital.
Ronaldo has hit out at United in a wide-ranging interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV, which will be released in full on Wednesday, criticising manager Erik ten Hag, former boss Ralf Rangnick and the club.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner insisted Alex Ferguson convinced him to re-sign at Old Trafford but suggested “zero progress” has been made since the legendary Scot left in 2013.
United issued a statement saying a response would follow once the interview, in which Ronaldo stated he felt “betrayed” by the club, was released in full.
In a new clip released on Monday, Ronaldo claimed two senior members at United doubted his daughter, Bella, was sick with bronchitis just three months after her twin brother had died.
“I spoke with the director and the president of Man Utd and they kind of didn’t believe that something was going wrong, which made me feel bad,” the Portugal captain said.
The forward missed United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia after being granted additional time off by Ten Hag.
When pressed to confirm senior United figures did not believe he was telling the truth, Ronaldo added: “They believe me but in the same way [shakes head]…
“I am never going to change the health of my family for a football. Now, or 10 years behind or forward.
“And it is something that really hurt me because they doubted my word that I was struggling, especially Bella and Geo [Georgina Rodriguez, Ronaldo’s girlfriend].
“We had one week in hospital because Bella had a big problem and I didn’t go to the pre-season because of that.
“I didn’t want to leave my family to do the pre-season because I didn’t think it was fair to leave my family for a pre-season. This is why I didn’t go.”
Ronaldo stated in an Instagram post on Monday that his full focus is on achieving World Cup glory with Portugal, who face Ghana on November 24 in their Group H opener.
