Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly apologised to his Manchester United teammates after refusing to come on as a substitute against Tottenham last month.
The 37-year-old stormed down the tunnel at Old Trafford after Manchester United's recent dominant two-goal victory over Spurs and left the stadium before his teammates returned to the dressing room.
Ronaldo, 37, had been widely criticised for his actions at the end of that encounter with reports highlighting how many of his club teammates were dismayed at his behaviour. It was a moment that helped accelerate the deterioration of the relationship between the forward and boss Erik ten Hag.
That preceded Ronaldo's bombshell interview with Piers Morgan, in which he accused United of betrayal and trying to force him out of the club. However, while Ronaldo and Ten Hag's connection appears to have broken down entirely – the superstar has apologised to his Red Devils teammates.
That is according to a report in ESPN, which says that Ronaldo held his hands up after the clash against Spurs and admitted that he should not have acted in the way he did. This is however caveated by Ronaldo's impression of Ten Hag, whose management is said to have bamboozled the striker.
The confusion is said to have emerged from Ten Hag's post-match comments 17 days before that game against Spurs, in which he justified not introducing Ronaldo as a substitute in the heavy defeat against Manchester City out of "respect" – but then attempted to bring him on late against Tottenham.
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Ten Hag told Ronaldo to prepare himself as a substitute with just several minutes of normal time remaining against Spurs at Old Trafford, a request that he refused. That episode led to Ronaldo's temporary exile from first-team training and the subsequent Premier League clash against Chelsea.
Ronaldo is said to have been left angry and frustrated by Ten Hag's punishment and the forward even had to ask a young player at the club to fetch his trainers from the dressing room as he was not allowed to enter.
Despite Ronaldo's misgivings of Ten Hag and the two's difficult relationship, the Dutch boss has instilled much-needed discipline in the Old Trafford dressing room and this appears to have been welcomed by the majority of the players with the team appearing to be united on and off the pitch.
