Cristiano Ronaldo revealed Alex Ferguson convinced him to re-join Manchester United, but the legendary former manager knows there has been "zero progress" since his departure from Old Trafford.
Ronaldo has been the subject of a great deal of scrutiny this season, having pushed for a move away from United prior to the campaign while subsequently falling out of favour with new manager Erik ten Hag.
Although heavily linked with a move to rivals Manchester City, the Portugal skipper returned to Old Trafford in August 2021 on the advice of his former boss, who he revealed is in agreement the club has stalled since the Scotsman's retirement in 2013.
in a wide-ranging interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored, Ronaldo also questioned the Red Devils' decision to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Ralf Rangnick last season, while admitting a new direction is essential.
"I followed my heart," he said. "[Sir Alex] said to me, 'It's impossible for you to come to Manchester City,' and I said, 'Okay, Boss.'
"Since Sir Alex left, I saw no evolution in the club. The progress was zero. After sacking Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer], they bring in sport director Ralf Rangnick, which is something nobody understands. This guy is not even a coach.
"A big club like Manchester United bringing in a sporting director surprised not only me, but all the world."
He continued: "I think the fans should know the truth. I want the best for the club. This is why I come to Manchester United.
"But you have some things inside that don't help [us] reach the top level as City, Liverpool and even now Arsenal. A club with this dimension should be top of the tree in my opinion, and they are not, unfortunately.
"As Picasso said, you have to destroy it to rebuild it, and if they start with me, for me, it's not a problem.
"I love Manchester United, I love the fans, they're always on my side. But if they want to do it different, they have to change many, many things.
"He [Sir Alex] knows. Everyone knows. The people who don’t see that, it's because they don't want to see; they are blind."
Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to build on the foundations laid this season
Mikel Arteta has challenged Arsenal to improve and show they are the real deal again next season.
The Gunners ended a campaign of obvious progress with a 5-0 thrashing of Wolves on the final day, which meant they finished only five points behind champions Manchester City.
Arsenal had been top of the Premier League for 248 days before a run of two wins in eight fixtures during the closing weeks of the season saw their title quest end on the penultimate weekend.
Finishing as runners-up behind City means Champions League football will return to the Emirates for the first time since 2017 and, while Arteta was delighted to achieve their initial goal this season, he is well aware of the work required to kick on this summer.
“We wanted to bring the club back to the Champions League, that was the main target,” he said.
“That was obviously a big demand in the summer before we did certain things and before we managed to keep some of our players.
“Then the journey started and day by day, you start to have a feeling that the team is moving in the right direction and the energy and spirit is really good. Then you start to generate some belief.
“We didn’t expect to finish where we are. I think it’s the third best record in the club, with the history of the club, the most wins ever.
“It’s a lot but it’s still not enough to win it. We understand where the level is. If we want to be the real deal, we can’t be happy with what we have, and we have to be next season much better.
“I think we have some great foundations, that is true but in sport you have to prove it again.
“You have to be back in the first day of pre-season and look at each other and I don’t want to see any complacency or, ‘we’ve done really well and its OK’.
“We are going to have to be much better. It will be a challenging season but a season with plenty of opportunities and one of those opportunities is to be consistent, to do it again and be better. This is what we have to demand from each other.”
Gabriel Jesus was on target against Wolves with Bukayo Saka, Jakub Kiwior and Granit Xhaka also scoring, the latter netting twice in what is expected to be his final appearance for Arsenal.
Jesus’ second-half header ensured he finished his debut campaign for the Gunners with 11 goals and he is excited about the direction the club are heading.
He told the official club website: “It was good. Unfortunately, we didn’t win a trophy which was our target, but I think we had a good season, very good.
“We are building a good atmosphere from inside and outside, the fans coming with us always supporting, pushing us.
“I am so excited (for next season). I was a little bit unlucky about my injury, I missed a big part of the season but my mentality has always been my fitness and then to help my team, so next my main target is to be fit all season and help my team.”
There remains a large degree of uncertainty for Wolves ahead of next season with boss Julen Lopetegui revealing Joao Moutinho, Adama Traore and Diego Costa could leave on free transfers due to the club’s financial problems.
“This is a problem. You have players that you want to re-sign but you can’t because it is like a new signing in the financial terms,” the Spaniard explained.
“I am not a financial adviser, I am a coach. We will see.
“I know the sporting directors, they have to work very, very hard these five months and they have different targets for the squad but to execute any target, you need to know how much money you have. If not, it is impossible.”
Jude Bellingham named Bundesliga player of the season
Jude Bellingham has been named the Bundesliga’s player of the season.
The England midfielder won the award just two days after his club Borussia Dortmund missed out on the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich on goal difference.
Bellingham has made more than 130 appearances since joining Dortmund from Birmingham for just over £20million three years ago.
“Every year or half year that I’ve played at the club, my responsibility in the team has increased,” Bellingham was quoted as saying on the official Bundesliga website.
“I have to continue to be everywhere on the pitch and try my best to contribute going forwards and backwards and try and control games, try to dominate the midfield.
“My teammates, the coaches and the staff have helped me to develop.
“I came to the club as a talented lad, but I have added elements to my game that have taken it to the next level and I think that’s down to them, mainly.”
Bellingham, who turns 20 next month, captained Dortmund this season to become the club’s youngest-ever skipper and scored 14 goals in all competitions.
He has been strongly linked to a move away from Germany this summer, with Real Madrid reportedly leading the race for his signature.
I am full of energy – Jurgen Klopp says he does not need break from management
Jurgen Klopp insists he does not need a break from Premier League management following a disappointing campaign with Liverpool.
The Reds missed out on Champions League qualification after finishing outside the top four for the first time in a full season under the German.
Sunday’s thrilling 4-4 draw at relegated Southampton stretched Liverpool’s unbeaten top-flight run to 11 games but the late resurgence was not enough to make up for earlier poor results.
Klopp, the division’s longest-serving manager, maintains he is “full of energy” and ready to revive the club’s fortunes going into the summer.
Asked if he needs time off, the Reds boss replied: “No, no, no, not at all. Honestly, I’m completely fine.
“If you’d asked me 11 games ago, ‘do you want to have a break?’, I would have thought about it, to be honest.
“But I’m absolutely fine, full of energy.
“I have a break – I don’t have training and these kind of things. But a really busy period hopefully starts now in a different area of the game. I’m more than happy to do that.
“I will find time to reenergise and then we start again in July.”
Liverpool’s fifth-placed finish was their lowest since they finished eighth in 2015-16 – the season during which Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers at Anfield.
The Reds looked destined to sign off this term in style following early strikes from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino at St Mary’s.
But quick-fire second-half finishes from substitute Cody Gakpo and Jota were required to avoid a major shock after Kamaldeen Sulemana’s double and goals from James Ward-Prowse and Adam Armstrong turned a chaotic contest in Southampton’s favour.
Klopp believes his club has stuck together during some difficult moments and is determined that they regain a fear factor for rival sides.
“There is not a lot to learn (from the season) but a lot of clubs when the expectations are as high as ours when things don’t go well pretty quickly you start blaming each other,” he said. “That didn’t happen here.
“The better you behave in a crisis, the better you get out of it – and I really thought that was the case for us.
“We’re really, really not happy about it and for a club like us it’s massive not to qualify for the Champions League.
“If we improve, we are all of a sudden again a team nobody wants to play against and that’s what we have to become again.
“There were a lot of games in the season where I think teams were happy to face us. That’s actually the worst thing that can happen to you and I hated these moments. But that’s over and now let’s start again.”
Southampton are preparing for life in the Sky Bet Championship following an exhilarating end to a dismal season.
Saints manager Ruben Selles, who will leave the club and is likely be replaced by Swansea boss Russell Martin, conducted a performance review ahead of his departure.
“We discussed the points we can do better, the points we need to hold,” said the Spaniard.
“We needed to end in a professional way and that’s not a discussion because it’s not about us as a technical staff, it’s about Southampton and the information we can pass to the future people working here is key in not repeating the same mistakes.
“If they find themselves in the same situations that we did, at least they have this footage and experience of what we did.
“We did our review as a technical staff together. We got some conclusions for us and somebody will present it in the proper place to present it.
“It’s not for us to decide for the future but it is for us to say what we think can be different next season.”
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