Cristiano Ronaldo has also said Manchester United’s owners, the Glazers, do not care about the club’s sporting success.
The Glazers, who took ownership of the club through a leveraged buy-out in 2005, a deal which left United with a debt of more than £500m, have been widely criticised by fans and blamed for the club’s decline.
Ronaldo believes the current structure at United, with the Glazers in charge, makes it unlikely the club will be fighting for top honours in the next few years.
“The owners of the club – the Glazers – they don’t care about the club. I mean professional sport. Manchester United is a marketing club, they get their money from the marketing,” he added.
“The sports, they don’t really care in my opinion.”
Asked if he had spoken to the Glazers since he went back, Ronaldo said: No, never.
“They give all the power to the president, the sporting director.
“The fans are always right. The fans should know the truth. They should know that 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 but you have some things inside the club which doesn’t help it reach the top level as City, Liverpool and even now Arsenal.
“It is complicated; it’s difficult, it’s hard. In my opinion, it will be hard for Manchester United to be top of the game in the next two or three years.”
Ronaldo had accused United of betraying him – claiming the club tried to force him out – and said he has no respect for manager Erik ten Hag in the first clips released by TalkTV from a 90-minute interview with Piers Morgan.
—Sky Sports
