Ronaldo disrespected struggling United star during his time at club, he is now proving the Portuguese wrong – report

Former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo used to disrespect Harry Maguire during his team talks, as per reports.

Ruben Amorim had not only inherited a tactically incoherent squad from Erik ten Hag but also been handed a squad that desperately needed a cultural reset.

The Portuguese tactician wants his players to run like “mad dogs” and has underlined his determination to achieve that by pushing Marcus Rashford out of his first-team plans after being left disappointed with his work ethic.

It is too early but it seems Amorim’s approach is already working. Against Liverpool and Arsenal, the Red Devils showed incredible resilience and desire to engineer positive results.

In both of these games, Maguire emerged as a towering presence who was not only brilliant defensively, but he also rallied his teammates, like a captain. Incredibly, one of Ten Hag’s major decisions at Old Trafford was to snatch the captain’s armband from the Englishman.

After an incredible start under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the club’s most expensive centre-back slowly lost his stride and found himself on the fringes at Carrington. A report has suggested that Ronaldo’s presence didn’t help the ex-United skipper during this tough period.

According to The Telegraph, the iconic number seven was known to “roll his eyes” in the dressing room whenever Maguire used to speak in front of his teammates.

Considering Ronaldo’s stature, one could imagine what the alleged disrespectful gesture would have done to Maguire’s confidence.

Regardless, the 31-year-old never made things difficult for his manager and teammates in public and kept working behind the scenes to win back his place.

Despite interest from West Ham United in the summer of 2023, he stayed and emerged as one of the stand-out players in the final 12 months of Ten Hag’s era.

Amorim certainly likes Maguire’s skill sets and leadership qualities as he has reportedly told United to trigger a 12-month extension option in the central defender’s contract.

It is claimed that “in a team ‘starving for leaders’, as he put it, Amorim sees Maguire as one of his few leaders.”

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