Steve McClaren reveals what caused Cristiano Ronaldo-Erik ten Hag 'standoff' at Man Utd

Ronaldo saw his contract terminated at that stage, freeing him to eventually head to the Saudi Pro League. At 41 years of age, he remains tied to Al-Nassr for now - although more transfer talk has been generated amid strike action being taken in the Middle East.

It is not the first time that Ronaldo has aired his frustration and spoken out against what he considers to be unfair behaviour and poor leadership. He has said of Ten Hag, who took over at United in the summer of 2022: “I don't have respect for him because he doesn't show respect for me. If you don't have respect for me, I'm never going to have respect for you.” 

McClaren, who worked alongside Ten Hag having previously spent time at Old Trafford as Sir Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man, told The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast of how a strained relationship between Ronaldo and his manager in Manchester eventually snapped: “There was a lot of battles on that training field. There was a lot of ‘all I want you to do is this, this, this and this’. That was Erik's coaching - Ronnie this is your job.

“I used to say to Ronnie, ‘all he [Ten Hag] wants you to do is, you're the first press, make one run, make two runs, and maybe make a third one, if you feel like it. And then, recover back into the middle, in case we win the ball, and then we can play to you. That's all he wants you to do. If you can't do that, you won't be playing. Or if you won't do that, you can't be playing. Okay, or he [Ten Hag] won't pick you. I'm telling you, he won't pick you’.

“It's not like, I think other people would, and that's the difference, other people would. But Erik was, no, I'm doing that, and he's [Ronaldo] got to do it, otherwise he doesn't play. It was a little bit of a fight. Not a fight, but a standoff, and who is going to win? Erik stuck to his guns. I think most managers would accommodate to that. Some managers are like that. But he stuck to his guns.”

Ronaldo has been accused of purposely engineering his exit from Old Trafford, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner frustrated at rejoining a United team that were a shadow of the one that he left for Real Madrid in 2009.

He still looks out for their results, telling Piers Morgan in 2025 when asked if it has hurt him to see the Red Devils tumble off the loftiest of Premier League perches: “Of course. Of course. Because I was there so many years. I win the Champions League there, I win the Golden Ball, I win like 12, 13, 14 titles there.

“So I repeat, Manchester United is still in my heart. I love that club. But we have all to be honest and look for ourselves and say, ‘Listen, they are not in a good path’. So, they need to change and it's not only about the coach and players, in my opinion.”

United have since heeded that advice, with Ruben Amorim being relieved of his managerial duties early in 2026. Reins have been passed to former midfielder Michael Carrick on an interim basis through to the end of the current campaign.

He has overseen a five-game unbeaten run, picking up four successive victories at one stage, and has guided the Red Devils back into contention for Champions League qualification. More money is expected to be spent this summer reshaping a squad that has - as Ronaldo suggests - underperformed for far too long.