Cristiano Ronaldo slams Manchester United and tells Erik Ten Hag to listen to Ruud van Nistelrooy

Cristiano Ronaldo has launched an attack on his former club Manchester United and manager Erik ten Hag.

Ronaldo returned for a second spell at United in August 2021 but fell out with the Dutch boss and left for Saudi Arabia less than 18 months later.

The 39-year-old - who now plays for Al Nassr - has revealed he believes United need a complete rebuild and has questioned Ten Hag’s mentality.

"To prove that I’m right or wrong, this is not my issue anymore. I say what I have to say and for me it’s done," said Ronaldo on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.

"But to be honest with you, what I wish for Manchester, it’s what I wish for me. The best they can make, again the best team they can and I love that club, you know, I’m not, I’m not that kind of guy that forgot the past.

"But as I told you, Manchester, they need to rebuild everything, in my opinion. The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the League and Champions League.

"Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the League or Champions League. You have to be, to mentally say, listen, maybe we don’t have that potential, but I cannot say that. We’re going to try. You have to try."

Ronaldo went on to tell Ten Hag to listen to Ruud van Nistelrooy to understand the fabric of the club better. The former United striker returned to the club earlier this summer to form part of Ten Hag’s coaching set-up.

“If Ten Hag listen to Ruud, maybe he can (help himself),” he added. “I think it can help a lot because he knows the club and the club should listen (to) the guys who were there.

“You [Rio] or Roy Keane or Paul Scholes or Gary Neville, whatever, Sir Alex Ferguson. You cannot, you cannot rebuild a club without knowledge. Not guys who work in the office. They understand.

“The people who understand the football, it was, 99 per cent is the people who were there in the dressing room. They know how to deal with the players. It’s the people who understand these things.

“So I believe that Ruud is going to help because he was inside the club. He knows the club. He knows the fans. If the coach listens to him, I think they can improve a little bit the club.”

United finished eighth in the Premier League last season but did beat Manchester City to win the FA Cup, having won the Carabao Cup in Ten Hag’s first season.

But Ronaldo is insistent on a major rebuild to get the club competing for the biggest trophies again.

“This club needs time to rebuild because it's still one of the best clubs in the world, but they need to change,” he said. “They understand that. This is the only way.

“This is why they show, they start to change again, the structure of the club, the president, the infrastructures and everything. The owners of the club.

“They're investing in the training ground…So I'm happy because [things are changing]. I'm not happy the way it all happened, but in the same way, we cannot control some points of our life sometimes, but it's done, already done.”