CRISTIANO RONALDO’S desire to leave Manchester United has damaged the morale at Old Trafford.
That is according to his former-team Louis Saha, who played alongside the 37-year-old during his first spell at the club between 2004-2008.
Ronaldo is keen to quit the Red Devils in his quest to play Champions League football this season.
He failed to join the United squad on their pre-season tour of Asia and Australia due to “family reasons”, before returning to face Rayo Vallecano earlier this month.
But he caused outrage after leaving ten minutes before the final whistle in the friendly clash – during which he was hooked at half-time.
Despite Anthony Martial nursing a minor injury, he was dropped to the bench for Sunday’s 2-1 defeat against Brighton where he came on in the second half.
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Though he could be recalled back to the starting XI after boss Erik ten hag insisted United are better with him on the pitch.
Saha was critical of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner last month, but he has insisted he doesn’t want his legacy at the club to be tarnished.
Speaking exclusively to SunSport on behalf of TPP-ThePuntersPage about the transfer saga, the 48-year-old said: “I really don’t know with Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I made some comments a few weeks ago saying I was not happy by the fact he’s such a big player and such an example for youngsters.
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“He can clearly see that the manager needs to make some strong decisions and I feel he went completely the opposite.
“If you try to bring discipline and he doesn’t want to do it or has different ideas, then it’s hard and I think he’s taken it in a personal way.
“The manager is trying to build a collective and a squad with a foundation and he’s being brought into the Cristiano Ronaldo saga every time he speaks.
“It’s not an easy situation and I would say that I was on Cristiano’s back a bit. The criticism was strong, if he finds a suiter, then ok you can go.
“But if not, then you have to come out and talk; if he wants to leave, he should say it but also say he’ll give his 100 per cent to the club if it doesn’t happen or until it happens.
“At least then the saga with Cristiano would be over at that point, but we haven’t seen this, so I was frustrated as a fan of Manchester United.
“I’m still a huge fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, I love what he has done for the game, and I still admire his talent today because he’s still an amazing player.
“But at this moment in time, the talk of his future has been really bad in terms of trying to build a team collective.
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“It doesn’t belong to the legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo because he doesn’t deserve it.
“For the fans, it’s a case of being a bigger fan of the club than it is being a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo which has to be the same for every player.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
