Cristiano Ronaldo 'deserves' proper goodbye at Man Utd after acrimonious 2022 exit, insists Benni McCarthy

Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford for a second stint in 2021 on a two-year deal but it did not go quite as envisaged. The forward began in typical style by bagging a brace on his debut against Newcastle and finished his first season back at Old Trafford with 18 Premier League goals, but fell out of favour after Ten Hag's arrival as head coach. Things came to a head when Ronaldo stormed down the tunnel before the end of United's match against Tottenham, with Ten Hag subsequently revealing he had refused to come on as a substitute. Ronaldo then gave an explosive interview to Morgan, claiming he felt "betrayed" by the Red Devils and saying he did not respect his manager. A swift exit followed as his contract was terminated and Ronaldo then headed to the Saudi Pro League to join Al-Nassr.

Ronaldo has been tipped to reunite with Manchester United this season in a lucrative friendly. The Red Devils have been looking at planning some money-spinning friendlies, which would also help fill the midweek void left after failing to qualify for European competition, and have reportedly considered Ronaldo's Al-Nassr as potential opponents.

McCarthy, who was on Ten Hag's coaching staff at United, has told BestBettingSites.co.uk it could be a good way for Ronaldo to say a "proper" goodbye to his former club: "Oh, definitely. You know what he's achieved since he came to the club, and where his career then kind of exploded even more when he went to Real Madrid. So he has only good memories at Man United.

"I think the manner that he left, it wasn't a fitting manner for such an unbelievable, world-class player of his stature. So if that is the case that United get to play against Al Nassr, it will be a nice way for him as well to reconnect with the club that he's achieved so much with, and the club that put him on the map in world football.

"So it would be a nice way for him to say goodbye to his teammates. Because I know for a fact after that interview dropped he just left and we never saw him again. He never got to say goodbye to the players, to his teammates and to the technical staff that was there. But this might give him a proper opportunity to reunite with the United faithful again. And the fans that will be there will give him a nice farewell, because that's what he deserves for what he's achieved at the club."

McCarthy also revealed how players and staff reacted to Ronaldo's interview with Morgan and made it clear his feelings weren't shared by the rest of the squad. He explained: "Obviously not happy, not pleased because he's a United player and nobody really expected that would come out, or he would go on Piers Morgan’s show and then broadcast all the dirty laundry. The technical team, the manager, we had meetings with the players, but there was nothing we could do to control how a certain person feels.We knew what was going on at the time in the club, and we tried to control it as best we could. As players, as the technical team, and the whole squad. We tried to control the situation as much as we could, and I think we dealt with it in the best way we possibly could. That was Ronaldo's view, but it wasn't obviously the view that we felt in the wider team."

Current Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has expressed his eagerness to play midweek friendlies this season, suggesting a reunion with Ronaldo could be on the cards. He said: "We have to do it. And you know, we knew that when we missed out on Europe, we have a lot of things to do. We have our fans, we have the budget, we have to to compensate for a lot of things. So we have to do it. We will do it. We want to be with our fans around the world. If you have to do it, you have to manage to find the space to do it."