Gary Neville has brushed off Cristiano Ronaldo’s public snub by saying the 37-year-old isn’t behaving like a Manchester United player.
Ronaldo’s conduct has been a thing of constant discussion in recent months as the veteran continues to risk damaging his Old Trafford legacy.
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He returned to United to much fanfare last summer, but his second stint with the club has backfired spectacularly.
Despite finishing as United’s top scorer last campaign, they missed out on the Champions League, leaving him to push for an exit during the summer window.
But that move didn’t materialise, and the discontent has continued to fester with Erik ten Hag appearing to see his best role as a super sub.
Tensions came to a head this month when Ronaldo refused to come off the bench during the win over Tottenham, before leaving the stadium before the full-time whistle.
Ten Hag subsequently axed the Potuguese star for the trip to Chelsea, as well as banishing him from first-team training for three days.
But, after crisis talks at Carrington last week, Ronaldo was back in the team and back in the starting XI for the 1-0 win over West Ham.
Unsurprisingly, there was plenty of attention on his return with Sky cameras capturing the moment he entered the pitch for pre-match warm-ups.
Even that walk made headlines, with Ronaldo refusing to acknowledge Neville in light of some forthright comments on his situation.
Last week Neville said that the two parties should go their separate ways as soon as possible, branding Ronaldo’s conduct as “unacceptable”.
His Sky Sports colleagues were quick to mock Neville with Carragher ‘welcoming him to the club’ after suffering the same fate earlier in the campaign.
Micah Richards then joined in the ribbing, interviewing the Manchester United legend and putting the video out for his followers.
In the clip, Richards approached Neville – who was standing alongside Roy Keane – and asks how it felt to be blanked by Ronaldo.
Neville laughed off the jibe before making the point that he hasn’t been acting like a player that has spent time playing under the United teams led by Sir Alex Ferguson.
“Just tell me something though,” he said to his former skipper Keane. “He’s watching everything…I think if I had 570 million followers on Instagram I wouldn’t be arsed about Gary Neville.”
Pushed on the fact he is a former teammate, Neville added: “I know, but he doesn’t behave like someone who’s played with me, or him [pointing at Keane] for that matter.”
