CRISTIANO RONALDO should leave Manchester United NEXT WEEK if he refuses to comply his Erik ten Hag’s decision-making, Gary Neville has said.
In a raging argument with fellow United legend Roy Keane and ex-Chelsea ace Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Neville backed the decision to banish Ronaldo following his Tottenham mutiny.
The former United captain explained how Ronaldo’s behaviour had left Ten Hag with no choice but to act, and that such a move from Ronaldo wasn’t a true reflection of his nature.
Following Keane stating that Ronaldo should have left in August, Neville told Sky Sports: “I hope he leaves next week so they (Ronaldo and Ten Hag) can shake hands.
“I hope he leaves next week and says to the club thank you very much and the club says to him thank you very much and then he goes and finds a new club because I’d like to see him go and play until he’s 42 scoring a thousand goals…
“I know it sound’s crazy but you can be a better team without players who are just goalscorers, and that’s happened time and time again.
“Mark Hughes wasn’t the greatest goalscorer in the world but within you’re a better team then with someone you can’t hit or can’t play off.
“Cristiano has just become a natural goalscorer – plays within the width of the box – (but) Erik ten Hag doesn’t want to play that way.”
Ronaldo’s slow start to the season was not helped by his well-documented transfer saga in the summer, with reports repeatedly claiming the 37-year-old wanted to leave Old Trafford in hopes of playing in the Champions League.
It culminated when he left early from a pre-season game against Rayo Vallecano – with the events of this week seeing a repetition of this on top of him flat-out refusing to come on against Spurs.
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Neville later added: “For me Erik ten Hag was left with no other choice, but the players in the dressing room had to have some sort of action against it because he wasn’t there for them…
“Your career is like a mountain… and you have to accept whether you play for a big club and accept less games – happens to everybody – or you go a lesser club and play all the time.
“And Cristiano Ronaldo is going to have to go to somewhere else that’s going to play him every week because he can’t accept being on the bench, and that’s fine.
“But I think end it this week or create a truce to get to the World Cup and then end it because it has to end because Cristiano isn’t doing himself any favours.
“You know that’s not him, that’s not the professional of Cristiano Ronaldo… but he’s doing that now and when you start doing things like that you probably have to leave.”
The heated debate came after United picked up a point in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea, with Casemiro’s late header cancelling out Jorginho’s penalty scored mere moments earlier.
