Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has opened up on the conversations he has recently had with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portugal international has found himself out of favour with manager Erik ten Hag. Although still in the Dutchman’s matchday squads, Ronaldo has been resigned to nothing more than a substitute’s role.
Having started in just one Premier League game so far this campaign, it has taken the five-time Ballon d’Or winner longer than he would have hoped to open his seasonal goalscoring account.
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Nevertheless, the 37-year-old’s only strike was one that turned out to be hugely significant.
Introduced in the first half of last weekend’s game against Everton, in place of Anthony Martial, who picked up another injury, Ronaldo found himself bagging the winning goal just 15 minutes after coming on, and his ability to still impact games is clearly also a cause of frustration.
Revealing how his former teammate feels not being a guaranteed starter for the first time in his career, Ferdinand, who spoke on his YouTube show, as quoted by The Sun, said: “When I’ve spoken to him during this period of not playing… Obviously, there’s an undertone of p***** off.
“There’s no doubt in my mind he’s upset. But then it’s about what you do after and when you’re given the opportunity.
“You don’t go in and sulk. He’s the quickest one off the bench when he’s being asked to go on the pitch.”
