Dwight Yorke says Cristiano Ronaldo unloaded his true dissatisfaction with the direction Manchester United was going in during a 30-minute chat they had at the end of last season, and added that the attacker had laid out certain demands for incoming boss Erik ten Hag.
He detailed how the striker admitted he was “unhappy” at the club, which later led Yorke to surmise that the superstar felt he should have led the team amid Harry Maguire’s axing from the starting XI.
The Treble-winning striker said it resulted in a situation that was a “ticking time bomb just ready to explode." He said he wasn’t surprised by the noisy exit of Ronaldo, who declared he has no respect for Ten Hag during his infamous interview with Piers Morgan.
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Yorke had spent 10 days at United towards the end of last season to get some advice and guidance before flying out to Australia to become manager of Macarthur FC.
The 51-year-old, a club ambassador for United, spoke to Ronaldo during his short return to Old Trafford, by which time Ten Hag had been announced as the new Reds manager in-waiting.
Speaking to The National, Yorke explained: “I don’t comment often on Manchester United because I’m still a global ambassador and have a fantastic relationship with the club. But what Cristiano has done, to me, is not a surprise.
"I had a one-to-one conversation with him before I came to Australia, when I went on a 10-day observation at Manchester United and had access behind the scenes. I was lucky that Ronaldo gave me 30 minutes of his time and we talked in depth.
“I knew that there was an individual there that wasn’t happy with whatever was going on at the club. He expressed that in a very open and honest way to me. He was clearly unhappy.”
He added: "He [Ronaldo] felt that the club wasn’t progressing the way he wanted it to and he demanded certain things from the incoming manager.
"I felt that if that wasn’t to happen, then there was going to be something that we eventually saw happen. So when all of that came out, I knew it was already a ticking time bomb just ready to explode."
In light of their chat, Yorke mooted that Ronaldo would have been frustrated with club skipper Harry Maguire still retaining the captaincy despite his unfavoured status after losing his place to new summer signing Lisandro Martinez, and that he probably wanted to take on the mantle himself.
He continued: "I know that there was someone who is really passionate and really loves Manchester United, and wanted to take Manchester United back to the top. But he clearly felt that the only way he could help the club get anywhere near that, I think he needed to be the leader.
"And I think, with Harry Maguire not being fully in the fold, I felt that Ronaldo didn’t think that was the right call; that he felt he should have led. Being the top scorer [last season with 24 goals], he felt he didn’t get enough respect, because without him last year, United would have been nowhere near.
"I think he feels he doesn’t get enough credit, that there’s a lot of criticism coming his way; the way he went about things with the Piers Morgan interview and speaking openly about it.
“But I think he got to the point where he had enough. He saw that the club was not heading in the direction he wanted it to. He wanted to lead and wasn’t given that opportunity, so it just boiled over."
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