Man Utd stars ‘felt less important’ after Ronaldo return

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has opened up on Cristiano Ronaldo’s time at Manchester United, admitting that some players may have felt ‘less important’ after his return in 2021.

United made a sensational move to bring back Ronaldo after he had been in talks with Manchester City over a transfer from Juventus, with the Red Devils adamant they could not allow their club legend to move to their rivals.

Ronaldo’s first season proved fruitful in terms of goals but things turned tense upon the arrival of Erik ten Hag in 2022 and Solskjaer, who was in charge when the Portuguese star made his return, revealed that the dressing room dynamic could have been affected by the move.

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Speaking at the Oslo Business Forum, Solskjaer said: “He has history with the club and he’s leaving Juventus but we can not give him to Manchester City because he will score more goals than Erling Haaland is doing at the moment probably.

“So I speak to Cristiano. We get him to Man United but I think maybe that affected the whole dressing room, the dynamic in the dressing room.

“Maybe other players felt less important because of course this is one of the world superstars that comes in. He did well. He was top scorer that year, scored 24 goals or something, but I was out of the job 10 weeks later!”

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The 39-year-old was United’s top scorer with 18 Premier League goals in his first season back at Old Trafford but Solskjaer’s sacking in November that year proved difficult, with Ronaldo admitting the interim replacement of Ralf Rangnick ‘surprised’ him as ‘he is a director, not even a coach.’

United ended the 2021/22 season in sixth – a stark fall-off from their second place finish in the previous campaign – and the arrival of Ten Hag in the summer marked a new beginning for the club.

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Ten Hag aimed to reduce Ronaldo’s role, believing the veteran did not suit his high-energy style of play, however the decision caused friction between the Dutchman and his star man.

After being left on the bench for a number of crucial games for United, Ronaldo gave an explosive unauthorised interview to Piers Morgan, questioning Ten Hag’s management and the direction of the club.

The interview proved to be the final straw for Ronaldo, with United terminating his contract and the forward eventually moving to Al-Nassr to become the first marquee arrival in the Saudi Pro League.