Cristiano Ronaldo may have left Manchester United, but his name is still lurking around Old Trafford. The 37-year-old had to mutually agree a contract termination with the Red Devils after his unfamous interview with Piers Morgan wherein he slammed the club left and right. That was the tipping point and Ronaldo was sacked by the club, just ahead of Portugal’s World Cup opener against Ghana.
The legendary forward’s departure had divided opinions, with his former teammate Paul Pogba now seeming to side with him. Pogba and Ronaldo were teammates at United over the course of the Portuguese forward’s time at the club, however were seen less on the pitch together given the midfielder’s constant injury woes. Nonetheless, the Frenchman has now made a huge admission about his former teammate in his latest interview.
I’ve never seen this – Pogba in awe of Cristiano Ronaldo’s discipline
Cristiano Ronaldo has always been hailed for his defying drills in training and gym, which evidently have kept him going at an age of 37. Many had doubted his move to United last year, even slamming United for bringing in a ‘finished Ronaldo’ instead of a young striker to lead their line. However, it didn’t take much long for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to silence the critics, netting 24 goals in 39 games in his first season back at the club.
In that time, the returning hero played alongside Pogba 20 times, who too had re-joined United from Juventus back in 2016. Although both Ronaldo and Pogba played for Juventus, it was at different timelines and the 21/22 season was the only one where they were teammates. In at interview to Field of Sports, Pogba, who returned to Juventus as a free agent this summer recalled his time with Ronaldo as he told:
“The discipline of Ronaldo was unbelievable – I’ve never seen this. The discipline is in another level. I see professional players, a lot of players, they’re very professional they come early, they all do recoveries and stuff like that.
“But someone that’s been there every single day and doesn’t stop – that’s Cristiano. Every day! Some days you’re like, I’m ok! But he doesn’t miss one day. His discipline to do it every single day – this is something.”
While Cristiano Ronaldo did manage 24 goals for United across all competitions last season, he was still unable to inspire them to silverware as it was the first time he ended a season without a trophy at Old Trafford. United failed to qualify for the Champions League as well with a sixth place finish in the league, which further frustrated Ronaldo, a five-time winner of the competition.
And the start to the new season under new manager Erik ten Hag just added to Ronaldo’s frustration as the Dutchman reduced him to a benchwarmer to establish his high-pressing system. The Portugal captain was entitled to a mere 4 starts in the Premier League by the time the World Cup arrived, and was only played regularly in the Europa League.
There were punches blown behind the scenes as well, with Ronaldo accusing of Ten Hag of disrespecting him in the Piers Morgan interview. The former Real Madrid man also came down heavily on the club for ‘betraying’ him and showing no development in their post-Ferguson era. All these antics finally resulted in the player and club parting ways in the most unpleasant manner, leaving the striker without a club during Portugal’s World Cup campaign, which was another disaster.