Rio Ferdinand has discussed Cristiano Ronaldo’s current status at Manchester United and says his former teammate will be fuming with a place on the bench.
Ronaldo has started just once in the Premier League this season with Marcus Rashford preferred at centre-forward, with the Portugal captain forced into a back-up role after agitating for a move during the summer.
The 37-year-old wanted to leave United in order to play Champions League football and missed much of the club’s pre-season campaign, but failed to secure an exit as a number of leading clubs distanced themselves from a move.
United have since shown an upturn in form in Ronaldo’s absence from the side and Ferdinand believes the Portugal captain will be ‘p*****’ with his current role in Erik ten Hag’s plans.
“He’ll be p***** , he won’t be happy,” Ferdinand told William Hill.
“You don’t get to do what he’s done over that period of time and be happy and content to be on the bench, or not to be getting the numbers you want to be getting. But he’ll be professional, he’ll be focused, because he’ll know his time’s going to come.
“He hasn’t had a pre-season, so I understand why he’s not playing, and Marcus Rashford is scoring and assisting goals at the moment, so I understand why he’s staying in the team.
“The team is the overriding factor at the moment. The way United started the season, they’re making sure the team is doing the right things and forget about individuals.
“Obviously, Casemiro is a big signing, but isn’t playing. Ronaldo isn’t playing, but their time will come. And, when their time comes, I think they’ll both stay in the team. I just think that will be the case and the manager will shift it about.”
