Cristiano Ronaldo: 'Manchester United have fallen behind other top clubs in the world'

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that Manchester United have made 'zero progress' since he left the club for Real Madrid in 2009.

The Portugal international spent six years with the 20-time English champions before making the move to Bernabeu, and he then played nine seasons for Los Blancos ahead of a switch to Juventus.

Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford in the summer of 2021, and he scored 24 times in all competitions for the Red Devils last term, but he has managed just three strikes during the 2022-23 campaign.

The 37-year-old is unlikely to represent the club again following his explosive interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, with the first part airing on Wednesday night.

Ronaldo has said that he was "surprised" when he returned to Old Trafford from Juventus, with the club not developing off the field.

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"Piers, to be honest, when I signed for Manchester United, I thought everything would have changed because it's 13 years," Ronaldo told Morgan.

"I was in Real Madrid nine years and three in Juventus. And when I arrived, I thought everything will be different, you know, the technology, the infrastructures and everything. But I was surprised, in a bad way, let's say in that way because I saw everything was the same.

"And Manchester it wasn't, in that moment that as you mentioned that Ole was sacked, Michael Carrick he assumed the job for two games.

"Villareal, and Chelsea away. And everything was so fast, but surprised me a lot, [the] instability in the club. No, they stopped on a clock, in my opinion, which is something that surprised me.

"I was surprised. I thought when I signed that they sign in that year Sancho, and Varane, plus me, that things will be in the way that Manchester should be.

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"Sir Alex Ferguson left a big gap in the club, not only Sir Alex Ferguson, one person that I thought made the difference; David Gill, the president, is a very, very good man. And the structure around Sir Alex Ferguson was very important too. So I knew that Manchester United wasn't the same.

"At United, the progress was zero, in my opinion. To compare with Real Madrid and even Juventus, that they follow the rest of the world, so the technology, especially in terms of training, nutrition and conditioning, eat properly and to recover better than before - surprised me.

"Manchester right now to compare with that club, I think it's behind in my opinion, which is something that surprised me. A club with this dimension should be the top of the tree in my opinion and they are not, unfortunately. They are not in that level.

"But I hope the next years they can reach to be in a top level. I don't know what's going on but since Sir Alex Ferguson left I saw no evolution in the club, the progress was zero."

Former Man United captain Gary Neville has said that the Red Devils must terminate Ronaldo's contract due to his actions.