Nani defends Cristiano Ronaldo, hits out at Man Utd teammates

One of CR7’s old teammates understands why he may want to leave the club.

Cristiano Ronaldo ‘doesn’t have time’ to be part of a rebuilding project at Manchester United, according to former Red Devils and Portugal teammate Nani.

Various reports have claimed Ronaldo wants to leave United this summer after just one season back at Old Trafford following the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League last term.

A lack of star signings, on top of the summer exits of Paul Pogba and co, has left new manager Erik ten Hag – who wants to keep Ronaldo around – with a tough job on his hands.

What did Nani say?

“It’s [been] a long time since we played together and Cristiano is not a kid anymore,” Nani told Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE.

“Times change and the reactions and attitude can change as well. But, as we see, he’s doing the same things as usual; he doesn’t like to lose, he reacts when the team is not doing well.

“But the only difference is that it’s different times. He’s playing again at Man United, but he’s been all over the world doing well at different teams with different players. He’s in a team where the managers are trying to build a strong team and it’s not easy, it takes time.

“For Cristiano, he doesn’t have time to lose on building teams or waiting for the next season. He wants to continue to be at the top, scoring goals, being the man. That’s why the reaction is normal. We all have the wrong reactions sometimes.”

Nani questions the Man Utd squad’s attitude

Brentford tore United apart in last weekend’s 4-0 thrashing, leaving Ten Hag’s side bottom of the Premier League table with no points after the opening two games of the new season.

Now Nani, who won the league four times during his Red Devils career, has remarked on the team’s attitude.

He added: “I don’t like to talk too much, I don’t talk about players but you can see there is no hunger, there is no attitude or desire to win in the club. You have a lot of talented players, but they don’t want to get tired. If I had to get sweaty to win, I would. They prefer to not sweat.

“You have talented players in the team with a lot of skills. They can shoot with their right foot and left but last game [against Brentford], no one was shooting at goal, everyone was passing.”

Ronaldo and United return to action next Monday for a Premier League match against Liverpool at Old Trafford.