Zlatan Ibrahimovic insists ‘we will never know the true story’ of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Man United exit… as he claims Erik ten Hag and the Portuguese star have ‘protected’ themselves and not been honest about his bitter departure from Old Trafford
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has claimed fans will never know the ‘true story’ behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s acrimonious exit from Manchester United.
Ronaldo gave a bombshell interview to Piers Morgan last month where he criticised the club and revealed he has ‘no respect‘ for manager Erik ten Hag, leading to his contract being terminated by mutual consent.
Ten Hag recently hit back at Ronaldo, insisting that the forward never told him to his face that he wanted to leave United.
Cristiano Ronaldo had his Man United contract terminated after criticising Erik ten Hag
Zlatan Ibrahimovic thinks fans will never know the ‘true story’ behind Ronaldo’s United exit
Despite Ronaldo and Ten Hag airing their views, Ibrahimovic still feels both men haven’t been completely honest – and said he would have ‘told you how it really happened’ if it had been him that situation.
‘His exiting United, I think when things happen, we will never know the true story,’ Ibrahimovic told reporters in Dubai.
‘They say what they want to say, he says what he needs to say to protect himself, then you have the coach that says these things to protect himself.
Ibrahimovic suggested Ronaldo (right) had not been totally honest about his United departure
‘Then the club says things – not like me, I will tell you how it really happened. But we are all different. Everybody is careful about their image.
‘For me the perfect image is being yourself. The true story we will not know my friend.’
Ten Hag appears to have already moved on from Ronaldo’s departure, and has confirmed that United will look to bring in a replacement next month.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo is looking for his next club having been linked with a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia side Al Nassr.
Ibrahimovic doesn’t blame Ronaldo for walking off in tears after Portugal’s World Cup exit
For now, he remains without a team, and it has been a difficult month for the 37-year-old, culminating with Portugal being knocked out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage by Morocco.
Ronaldo was dropped to the bench for Portugal’s final two matches in Qatar, and was unable to inspire a comeback when he came on against Morocco.
As the final whistle blew, Ronaldo headed straight down the tunnel in floods of tears while his team-mates stayed on the pitch to acknowledge their travelling fans.
Ibrahimovic does not blame Ronaldo for getting ’emotional’ in what is likely to be his last World Cup, and believes it was a natural reaction to a bitterly disappointing moment for the player and his nation.
‘Everybody wants to win the World Cup; not everybody gets to win the World Cup,’ he said.
‘Everybody is trying and if you don’t win it obviously you’ll get emotional, if you win it, you get also emotional in a different way.’
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