Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim has defended Cristiano Ronaldo following the forward’s shock interview targeting Manchester United.
Ronaldo launched an astonishing attack on his current club, speaking negatively about manager Erik ten Hag, former team-mate Wayne Rooney and the treatment he has received at the club, among other things.
When asked about the interview, via Ojogo, Amorim said that ‘everyone at Sporting likes’ Ronaldo and that it is up to him to decide his future, but didn’t rule out a potential return for the forward.
‘I’ve been asked this question a thousand times. Ronaldo is a Manchester United player’, said Amorim.
‘Everyone at Sporting likes him, there’s not much to say. He himself says he wants to do things in peace to follow his future. will decide his future.
‘I won’t be here telling you how things are for me. In the summer it became obvious that things don’t all pass me by. There’s the club, there’s the structure. He’s a Manchester United player.’
Ronaldo played for the Portuguese side between 1997 and 2003, graduating from their academy before playing 25 times for the first team.
He joined United for a £12.24million fee in the summer of 2003, and made 290 appearances for the Red Devils in his first stint at the club.
He went onto play for Real Madrid and Juventus, before returning to United in 2021.
He’s made a further 54 appearances since, but things have gone downhill rapidly since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer left as manager last season.
The 37-year-old told the world he feels ‘disrespected’ and unwanted at United in the interview with Piers Morgan, which has shocked the footballing world despite some of Ronaldo’s recent actions.
It’s unclear if he will play for United again following the outburst, with the club yet to comment, though it is believed his Red Devils team-mates themselves feel disrespected by the interview.