They may have been Manchester United teammates for six trophy-laden seasons, but Cristiano Ronaldo and Gary Neville's relationship has disintegrated over the last month.
This has culminated in Ronaldo hitting out at Neville in his startling Piers Morgan interview and the latter responding sarcastically on social media. Divisions between the two former colleagues were heightened in mid-October, when former the England defender exclusively told Mirror Football that Ronaldo must "accept that he won't play every single game".
This advice did not go down well with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, who remains as determined as ever to play every game, even aged 37. A matter of days after Neville made his comments, Ronaldo refused to come off the bench against Tottenham, making it abundantly clear that he will not "accept" being a squad player rather than a starting XI mainstay.
Erik ten Hag punished the former Real Madrid and Juventus forward by making him train alone and miss the subsequent Premier League fixture against Chelsea. He returned to top flight action at the end of October, with Neville's unwanted advice was still fresh in his memory, and made a point of ignoring the 47-year-old as he performed his pitchside punditry duties before the clash with West Ham.
Neville made light of the incident by joking, "We're off the Christmas card list aren't we?," while Jamie Carragher welcomed his regular co-pundit to the "blanked by Ronaldo club". The initial animosity from Ronaldo towards Neville was likely sparked in the summer.
Speaking in early August, the 47-year-old admitted he was "disappointed" in his old colleague's conduct. Ronaldo submitted a transfer request in July and, at the end of that month, left Old Trafford before full-time having been taken off in the friendly against Rayo Vallecano.
Was Cristiano Ronaldo out of order by picking out Gary Neville? Have your say in the comments...
Neville doubled down on his criticism of Ronaldo later in August, following two straight defeats for the Red Devils, by calling out his body language. The former right-back wanted to see the prolific marksman taking responsibility and leading his teammates rather than letting his frustrations show on the pitch.
There have been plenty of examples of Ronaldo's exasperation boiling over this season and his return of three goals in 16 appearances is underwhelming. Many view Neville's criticism of the Portugal captain as reasonable, but he hit back in no uncertain terms during his interview with Morgan.
While Ronaldo's argument that Neville only sees "one point of view" has some basis, he undermined himself by declaring that the popular pundit is using him for fame. The Sporting Lisbon academy graduate went further by saying Neville is not his friend and he would not go for a meal with him, prompting an amusing tweet from the latter on Tuesday morning which read: "Anyone for dinner?"
So, what started as some honest advice from a seasoned pundit to an ageing player has led to a complete breakdown in friendship. With the full Ronaldo-Morgan interview airing on Wednesday and Thursday, the situation could yet grow more toxic.
