Journalist Fabrizio Romano has slammed the ‘fake stories’ at Manchester United claiming Cristiano Ronaldo is a bad influence at the club.
Over the summer, the forward was linked with a number of clubs in a possible high-profile move away as he was supposedly seeking out Champions League football.
However, no deal materialised and some reports have suggested that Ronaldo wasn’t being the most professional during the period when his future was in doubt.
Indeed, The Athletic noted that his ‘reintegration into the squad has proven challenging’ and that he was even eating ‘lunch alone in the canteen at Carrington’.
Despite this, while talking about the Red Devils on The United Stand, Romano said these reports are untrue and he’s not created ‘one single problem’ within the squad.
He explained: “I saw many fake stories, honestly, on Cristiano Ronaldo’s behaviour in training, on his professionalism, how he was working with Man United while his agent was trying to find a solution.
“Because I think we can say everything about Cristiano, we can maybe doubt Cristiano’s last performance, but not on how he’s working with the squad, how he’s training and how he’s professional.
“I’m told from really good sources that Cristiano spent the whole summer training at the best level and never creating one single problem to the squad.
“And it’s not easy for Cristiano Ronaldo to stay on the bench. You see important games like Liverpool or Arsenal and you sit on the bench, it’s not easy for Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s still surprising to see Cristiano Ronaldo not in the starting XI, but in every single training session, he’s been perfect, I’m told.”
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Considering Ronaldo has not started this season in the Premier League or even scored a goal, it would be no shock to hear he was unhappy behind the scenes, especially given the rumours surrounding his future.
But if Romano is to be believed, it looks as though the 37-year-old has been the model professional on the training ground. This will most likely come as a big relief to United fans, as they may have feared the worst when he didn’t get his transfer away from their club.
And with games now coming more regularly, Ronaldo will no doubt hope to start again soon. European football returning this week, so he may well feature once more.
After all, he is the Champions League’s top scorer of all time, and if he has been training well and acting professional, Erik ten Hag may well trust him to at least play from the off in the Europa League.