LONDON – Cristiano Ronaldo never expressed a desire to quit Manchester United, according to manager Erik ten Hag on Friday.
Following a dramatic TV interview in which the veteran forward claimed to feel “betrayed” by the team and lacked respect for Ten Hag, United cut ties with the Portuguese star.
“I think it was quite clear after the interview that he had to leave. I think we didn’t have to discuss it,” the Dutch gaffer was quoted by Manchester Evening News.
“I wanted him to stay from the first moment until now. He wanted to leave, it was quite clear. And when a player definitely doesn’t want to be in this club then he has to go, clear.
“The interview I think, as a club, you can’t accept. There will be consequences. To make that step he knew the consequences. Before he never told me he wanted to leave,” Ten Hag said.
Speaking at United’s winter training camp in Spain, Ten Hag asserted that the 37-year-old, who is presently representing Portugal at the World Cup, had even made a suggestion that he wanted to stay at the club before the season began.
“Until that moment he never told me ‘I want to leave’. In the summer, we had one talk. He came in and said ‘I will tell you in seven days if I want to stay’.
“Then he came back and said ‘I want to stay’. Until that moment (the interview), I never heard anything,” added the United boss.
