Cristiano Ronaldo may have exchanged words with one former Manchester United team-mate this week, but it was all smiles when he met Rio Ferdinand.
The 37-year-old is United’s top scorer and is back in the United lineup for the trip to Everton having missed out against Leicester City last time out. In his absence, the Red Devils toiled to a dour 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, a result which put a massive dent in their top-four aspirations.
The no-show continued a worrying trend for United without the Portuguese talisman, failing to win any of the six matches he has missed since returning at the start of the season. Nevertheless, his place in the United team and his impact in the Premier League has been questioned, with the team going backwards since joining from Juventus.
Wayne Rooney risked the wrath of his old pal by suggesting that the Red Devils should look to the future and build the team around younger players, rather than an icon in the twilight of his career.
Asked if Ronaldo’s return had gone to plan Rooney told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football: "You'd have to say no at the minute. I think he's scored goals, he's scored important goals in the Champions League early on in the season, he scored the hat-trick against Tottenham.
"But I think if you're looking to the future of the club, you have to go with younger, hungry players to do the best and lift Manchester United over these next two or three years. Obviously Cristiano is getting on a bit, he certainly isn't the player he was when he was in his 20s, and that happens, that's football.
"He's a goal threat but the rest of the game they need more, they need young, hungry players." To which Ronaldo bluntly replied on social media with the message “two jealous”.
But the sentiment that United are a better side without Ronaldo is something which fellow United legend Ferdinand has never been able to get on board with. “Are United a stronger team without him? I cannot agree with that at all,” he told Mirror Football last month.
“A player with his ability and his talent, who is as decisive as he is, who has shown it over the years and this season that he can make the difference. Man United are not a team who are in the position to think, ‘OK, we are too good to have someone like that in our team’.”
And those words clearly meant a great deal to Ronaldo who embraced his ex-team-mate when arriving at Goodison Park for Saturday’s crucial clash with Everton. Reports have surfaced that a number of players have been left ‘unhappy’ by Ferdinand’s forthright opinions, but there was little hostility on display with the likes of Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata all exchanging pleasantries with the former central defender.
United face the Toffees knowing nothing less than a win is required in their bid to secure Champions League football, while Frank Lampard’s side are firmly in survival mode sitting just one point above the relegation zone following the midweek reversal at Burnley.
