Cristiano Ronaldo insists that Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville are not his friends after their recent criticism of the Man Utd striker.
The Portugal international gave a controversial interview to Piers Morgan last week with more bits from the one-on-one chat coming out each day before it airs in full later in the week.
In Sunday’s segment, Ronaldo discussed his frustration at criticism from former Man Utd team-mate Rooney after the former Derby County boss said that Ronaldo’s recent behaviour had been “unacceptable”.
Ronaldo hit back in the interview with a dig at Rooney’s appearance. When questioned why his former Man Utd team-mate had criticised him, he responded: “Probably, because he finished his career in his thirties. So, I’m still playing at a high level. I’m not going to say that I’m looking better than him, which is true, but…”
And in the latest part of the interview, Ronaldo says he is not friends with Rooney or Neville and claims the pair have been taking “advantage” of his profile.
“It’s hard to listen to that kind of criticism and negativity about people who play with you. For example, Gary Neville, as well. They are not my friends,” said Ronaldo.
“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.
“I think they take advantage of [my profile] because they are not stupid. It’s hard when you see people who were in the dressing room with you criticising that way.”
Man Utd supporters have been holding protests against The Glazers’ ownership of the club for many years and Ronaldo insists they “don’t care about the club”.
Ronaldo added in The Sun: “The owners of the club, the Glazers, they don’t care about the club. I mean, professional sports.
“As you know, Manchester is a marketing club, they will get money from the marketing. The sports they don’t really care about, in my opinion.”
The Man Utd striker insisted on Sunday that the fans “should know the truth” about their club and that’s part of the reason he decided to be interviewed.
Ronaldo continued: “The fans are always right. They should know the truth. The players want the best for the club. I want the best for the club. This is why I came to Manchester United, this is why I love this club.
“You have some things inside the club which don’t help Manchester reach the top level like City, Liverpool and even now Arsenal.
“It’s complicated. It’s difficult. It’s hard.”
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