Cristiano Ronaldo's career at Manchester United is over after he gave a bombshell interview to Piers Morgan attacking Erik ten Hag.
That's according to Match of the Day pundits Jermaine Jenas and Jermain Defoe who agreed that Ronaldo has reacted in the wrong way to seeing his game time diminish. The Portugal captain took aim at Ten Hag, Wayne Rooney and Ralf Rangnick as he made his unhappiness clear.
It now appears likely that the defeat to Aston Villa last week was Ronaldo's last appearance in a United shirt. That is certainly the opinion of Jenas, who believes there is no way back for the 37-year-old.
"He has to be. As a manager, I feel like Erik ten Hag, where I'm half with Ronaldo and what he's saying, it feels like he's been used a little bit. He's like the black sheep, the one to throw the stick at," Jenas said when asked by host Mark Chapman if Ronaldo was "done there now".
"I do at times feel with Ten Hag, it enables him to elevate his position at the football club when he treats Cristiano in a certain way. It enables him to get the dressing room to fall in line.
"But at the same time, Ronaldo does have to behave in line with how the rest of the team does. I do think, if I was the manager, it makes sense for Ten Hag. I mean he can't play him now, he can't be involved in the team now."
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Defoe was also left confused by Ronaldo's decision to air his problems in such a public setting. The former Tottenham star believes that Ronaldo's ego has been "dented" by his experience this season, which has seen him start just four top-flight games.
"I think it's disappointing to be honest. He's got nothing to prove so I can't understand why he would want to put his point across. Maybe his ego's dented a little bit. He's not ever been in this situation before," Defoe said.
"Maybe he doesn't know how to handle it, but you'd like to think there's people around him that would say 'you don't have to do this'. I think he scored 20 plus goals last season. So Ronaldo's probably thinking 'I was your top goalscorer last season'.
"And he's thinking 'I would do the same'. So it is a funny situation but I'm really disappointed seeing that to be honest."
Jenas also accused United of "mishandling" the multiple situations around Ronaldo this season. But he insisted that the attacker had made the wrong decision by giving the interview to Morgan.
"I'm totally baffled and confused as to why he's done this interview if I'm totally honest with you. The timing of it, I think it just leads you to how Cristiano Ronaldo is feeling right now and how he's felt all season," he added.
"We've seen nothing but almost petulance throughout the whole year with the walking down the tunnel, today he's ill, but now he's doing interviews with Piers Morgan. He's a frustrated player.
"I've said from day one the whole situation has been mismanaged by the club. Whether he feels lied to or not, today just doesn't feel right to me. I don't think it's going to help him with Manchester United."
