Ex-Sunderland man slams Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United and Erik Ten Hag criticism

Although the interview has not been aired yet, snippets of it have appeared on social media with Ronaldo seemingly taking aim at Erik Ten Hag, accusing him of trying to ‘force him out’ of the club. Manchester United have since released a statement, calling for ‘togetherness’.

Naturally, Ronaldo’s comments have sparked debate across the globe and his former teammate Wes Brown has revealed he is ‘shocked’ and ‘gutted’ about the whole situation.

Ex-Sunderland defender Brown told Fair Betting Sites: "I've not seen the whole interview yet, I've just seen some snippets but honestly I'm just shocked that it's got to this point. It's one of those situations where it's become more and more obvious that he wants to leave the club.

“Personally I think you should go about it in a different way but Ronaldo will feel a certain way and has decided that this is the course of action he wants to take. I'm a bit gutted about the whole situation but until I've seen the whole thing it's hard to say too much else on it.

“But I am disappointed with how it's played out because he's been a great person and great professional up until now. Ultimately when there's stuff to be said like this that you do it behind closed doors and with the right people. This hasn't been done that way.

“Ronaldo is a mega star and he felt he had to do it this way but it's something I certainly wouldn't have done and probably most others wouldn't have either. I'm pretty sure that this is the way he wanted it to go.

“They're off to Qatar now and he won't be back at United until mid December but then it's up to the club and the player because they'll have to talk about it at some point. The timing of the interview probably makes that not possible for a while. We'll hear more in the next couple of weeks but clearly the result of the timing is that everyone's not at the club for the next six weeks or so."

Brown spent five years at Sunderland after leaving Old Trafford, featuring just-shy of 100 times for the Black Cats in that time.