Cristiano Ronaldo has taken a major swipe at Gary Neville by insisting that the former Manchester United right-back is not his friend in a tell-all interview with Piers Morgan, which is set to be aired in full later this week. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner made a series of explosive claims during the tell-all conversation that was partially revealed on Sunday, with his second spell at United now seemingly all but over as the dust continues to settle.
Neville has insisted that Ronaldo’s time at United will inevitably be cut short on a number of previous occasions and was blanked by the Portuguese forward during the warm-ups before their victory over West Ham at the end of last month. The former Red Devils and England right-back has since been accused by Ronaldo of using him to gain more fame, with the 37-year-old declaring: “We’re not ever having dinner together.
“To listen as ex-colleagues or team-mates criticise you, when they only see one point of view. It’s easy, it’s easy to criticise, I don’t know if you have a job in television that they must criticise to be more famous. I really don’t understand it. It’s hard when you see people who was in the dressing room with you criticising that way.”
When asked directly if Neville has been using his name to earn a greater level of notoriety as a pundit over the last few months, Ronaldo added: “I think they take advantage of that because they are not stupid. I’m the number one followed guy in the world. It’s not by coincidence.”
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Ronaldo also singled out Wayne Rooney, who he played alongside at United for a number of years during the height of his previous spell at Old Trafford, with the DC United boss having made a series of negative comments about him in recent months.
“It was one year ago, or six months ago,” continued Ronaldo. “We’re here in my house, he picked up his kids here and he invited [Ronaldo’s son] Cristiano to go to his house to play football. I really don’t understand people like that, or if they want to be on a cover of the paper in the news or they want new jobs or whatever.
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“I don’t know why he criticises me so badly. Probably because he finished his career and I’m still playing at a high level. I’m not going to say that I’m looking better than him, which is true.”
United, meanwhile, are yet to make any firm decisions on what to do with Ronaldo but released a statement on Monday to acknowledge his recent interview with Morgan, which read: “Manchester United notes the media coverage regarding an interview by Cristiano Ronaldo. The club will consider its response after the full facts have been established. Our focus remains on preparing for the second half of the season and continuing the momentum, belief and togetherness being built among the players, manager, staff, and fans.”
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