Sir Alex Ferguson has been told to ‘take a step back’ Manchester United after he joined the fight to keep Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford, where former England striker Darren Bent claimed he could undermine new manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo is not in United’s pre-season schedule as his agent Jorge Mendes tries to find him a new club ahead of the 2022-2023 campaign.
While the Portuguese legend impressed last season – scoring 24 goals in 38 appearances – he is looking to leave United to play in the Champions League.
Ronaldo is struggling to get interest from other clubs and he Tuesday back to Manchester to hold showdowns with Ten Hag and the hierarchy of the club.
Ferguson, who is close to Ronaldo after their six years together at Old Trafford, made a rare appearance in Carrington and is said to have been involved in the conversations in some waywhile also attending a board meeting with CEO Richard Arnold.
United hoped to convince Ronaldo to stay in Tuesday’s talks, but it has become common knowledge that the 37-year-old still determined to leave the club and will try to escape Manchester United before the transfer deadline.
Bent says the ‘circus’ surrounding Ronaldo can only be bad news for Ten Hag’s preparations for the season and insists Fergie must ‘take a step back’ to avoid the risk of undermining United’s new manager.
“Alex Ferguson is the best manager in the history of Manchester United, the best manager in the history of the Premier League,” he said. talkSPORT.
“I don’t know what it would be like to have someone like that overseeing the decision you make.
‘You’re looking at Ralf [Rangnick]he made some tame decisions, and there was a big story about that, where he said Sir Alex Ferguson wouldn’t have done it.
‘I don’t think Erik ten Hag needs that. It would be nice if Fergie took a step back and let Ten Hag really do his thing.
‘If he [Ronaldo] can’t report because he has family problems, I understand. But I don’t think the whole circus has done Erik ten Hag a favor.
“Especially because Ten Hag has come out and said he wants to build his team around Ronaldo. Can you build a team around someone who has made it clear they don’t want to be there?
‘I don’t think you can. You try to get as much money for him as possible, you let him go and then you try to get on with the squad you have.’
However, former Manchester United striker Alan Brazil defender Ferguson said everything he does is out of love for the club.
‘He [Sir Alex Ferguson] cares a lot about Manchester United,” he said. “I don’t think he’s undermining Ten Hag, it’s just his love for United.
“Ronaldo is a great player and professional and I don’t think Fergie did anything wrong here.”
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