Erik ten Hag does not want Cristiano Ronaldo to play for Manchester United again

Dutch manager Erik ten Hag agrees with club chiefs the team is better off without the Portuguese star after his scathing interview with Piers Morgan.

Erik ten Hag does not want Cristiano Ronaldo to play for Manchester United again with club chiefs agreeing that the team is better without him.

The club is waiting until they have seen the whole of the player’s interview with Piers Morgan before deciding what action to take against Ronaldo and are in talks with legal representatives over his comments.

The interview, which was done without permission from the club, will be aired in full on Wednesday and Thursday on TalkTV. In it Ronaldo said he felt “betrayed” by the club and was being forced out while he also attacked the Glazers, the club’s owners, and revealed a lack of respect for manager Ten Hag.

Cristiano Ronaldo has not been accepting of the role of substitute and squad player at Manchester United. Picture: AFP

Ten Hag, who is working this week before taking a break during the World Cup, has been in talks with the football director John Murtough, the co-chairman Joel Glazer and the chief executive Richard Arnold. It is understood that the manager does not want to sacrifice the unity of the team for the sake of Ronaldo. The Dutchman had been vocal in his support of Ronaldo, insisting both publicly and privately that the Portugal forward had a role to play in his squad.

However, club chiefs agree the team has performed much better without him in it and Ronaldo, 37, who has won the Ballon d’Or five times, has not been accepting of the role of substitute and squad player.

Ten Hag has already had to discipline Ronaldo twice this season after he left Old Trafford on a match day without permission. The first occasion was against Rayo Vallecano in a pre-season friendly, when he was one of a number of players who left the ground before the fixture had finished, and he was then dropped from the squad after refusing to come on as a substitute and leaving before the final whistle of the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

The sanctions were Ten Hag’s decision but he had the backing of the senior staff at the club and it is understood that will be the same when a final decision is made on how to proceed.

The club had planned to have talks with Ronaldo in January if there were still issues around his place in the squad, but the interview has brought that to a head quicker than anticipated.

Manchester United's manager Erik ten Hag (left) has already had to discipline Cristiano Ronaldo twice this season. Picture: AFP

Ronaldo wanted to leave the club in the summer and his agent Jorge Mendes was working to get his client a deal away from Old Trafford. There was interest from a number of clubs including Chelsea, Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain but it is understood the only team to come in with a contract offer were in Saudi Arabia and Ronaldo’s preference was to play at a Champions League side.

It is understood Ronaldo does not have a club lined up to join in January but the aim of the interview was to put himself in the shop window off the back of a good World Cup.

United will give their World Cup players seven days off after they exit the tournament before rejoining the rest of the squad to prepare for the return of the Premier League and the club will want to have a resolution in place before Ronaldo is expected back in training.

His interview is said to have had a mixed reaction from those within the dressing room. A cold, awkward handshake between Ronaldo and his United and Portugal teammate, Bruno Fernandes, was caught on camera on Monday, but the incident was played down by the Portugal midfielder Joao Mario, who said: “It was a joke between them because Bruno was late, one of the last to arrive, and Cristiano asked him if he had came by boat.”

Ian Wright, meanwhile, believes Ronaldo’s comments show that he is not accepting that his career is nearing an end. “It must be difficult for him and something he may need to seek counselling for,” the ex-Arsenal striker said.

– The Times