Legendary Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has explained why he feels Cristiano Ronaldo should be released from his contract with the Red Devils.
Ronaldo stormed down the tunnel before the final whistle at Old Trafford on Wednesday night as he was left unused for the entirety of United’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has started just two of United’s 12 Premier League games so far this season.
Speaking on his FIVE YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: “My only thought could be that Cristiano is being saved for the weekend against Chelsea. That’s the only way I see it, logically.
“He didn’t play (against Spurs) and I think Ronaldo will be absolutely fuming with that naturally and I wouldn’t expect anything different from him.
“I think the big problem Erik ten Hag’s got is that, coming up to this next window, I think he’s got to think very carefully about what he does.
“If he doesn’t see Cristiano Ronaldo as a starter in his team more often than not, I think he has to release him from the contract, has to let him go.
“It’s not fair on anybody – the club, Cristiano, Erik ten Hag or the players – that after every game he doesn’t start is ‘why didn’t didn’t Cristiano Ronaldo start?’ and that’s the story.
“Man Utd have won 2-0 today and one of the leading stories will probably be about Ronaldo tomorrow and that can’t be right.”
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Ferdinand continued: “So you sit here and think ‘why did Man Utd not just let him go then?’ if Erik ten Hag kind of knew he wasn’t going to part of his main plans.
“That’s the baffling part for me because you think what someone’s done in their career, at his level, the manager surely would have known before the season started ‘am I going to really play Ronaldo a lot? Is he really what I want in my team? Is he the future of what I’m building around?’
“It looks to me right now as though he would have aired on the side of ‘no’. If that’s the case, I feel he probably should have let Cristiano go.
“It’s probably going to be something that hampers him [Ten Hag] going forward until the day Ronaldo leaves the football club because of how big he is, how much of an icon, how much of a superstar he is.”
