Cristiano Ronaldo creates another Manchester United mess 14 years after ‘slave’ comments
Cristiano Ronaldo’s bombshell interview with Piers Morgan is still reverberating around not just Manchester United but seemingly the whole of football right now. The Portuguese conducted a lengthy chat with the former Good Morning Britain presenter which will be aired in full over two nights this week.
Numerous snippets have been teased out by Morgan, with the biggest eye-raisers being the statement by Ronaldo that he has no respect for manager Erik ten Hag as well as claims he feels “betrayed” by the club. Many have questioned the timing of the interview, news of which surfaced just hours after United’s final game before the World Cup break.
There surely looks to be no way back for the 37-year-old, who is of course in his second spell at Old Trafford.
His first stint laid the foundations for the hugely successful career he has enjoyed but it is worth remembering that original six-year stay also involved its fair share of mud-slinging.
You have to go back to the summer of 2008 for a particularly unsavoury period. Ronaldo was fresh from representing Portugal at that summer’s European Championships when news surfaced of a potential move to Real Madrid. The Spanish giants wanted the player and he had made it clear his wish to go there. But United stood their ground and refused to sanction a deal.
That stance led to former FIFA president Sepp Blatter wading in, declaring there was “too much modern slavery” in the sport. Rather than defuse the situation, Ronaldo flamed the fires. “I agree with what he said,” said Ronaldo 14 years ago, when the point on slavery was put to him.
“It’s true. I agree with what the president of FIFA said. I know what I want and what I would like. We have to see what happens. I do not know where I will begin next season.”
United stood firm that summer but Ronaldo spent just one more season at the club before departing, as expected, to Madrid in 2009.
His legacy remained undamaged by the controversial episode though, and 12 years later he was greeted like a hero when he sealed a stunning return. Anyone inside Old Trafford for the game against Newcastle in September 2021 will recall a carnival atmosphere as the showman rewound the clock.
But the mood has swiftly changed now, and this latest faux pas has done little to endear him to United’s fanbase. His lack of game time has led to shows of petulance and constant rifts.
His second coming at United might have started out as a fairytale, but it is looking increasingly likely that it will have a nightmare ending.
