Ronaldo: Agent reveals how failed Chelsea transfer impacted his relationship with ex-Man Utd star
Cristiano Ronaldo’s former agent – Jorge Mendes – has indicated that he is still “close” to the ex-Man Utd forward following their split last year.
Ronaldo endured a dramatic final six months at Man Utd. He attempted to secure himself a move away from the Premier League giants last summer after they failed to qualify for the Champions League.
Bayern Munich and Chelsea were linked with him at the time but United were unwilling to let him leave before the 2022/23 campaign.
The forward was only used sparingly by Erik ten Hag at the start of the season and he refused to come on as a substitute on multiple occasions.
Things boiled over when his infamous interview with Piers Morgan aired before last year’s World Cup. During his chat with the journalist, Ronaldo hit out at Ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick and the Glazer family.
Ronaldo subsequently left Man Utd by mutual consent and he joined Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr in January.
The 38-year-old split with Mendes last year and Spanish outlet El Mundo (via The Daily Mail) reported that he told his former agent to get him to ‘Bayern, Chelsea or we will break up’.
This came after Mendes ‘expressed to Cristiano his disagreement with many of his decisions in recent years, the first being to leave Real Madrid’.
Mendes has now spoken out about his relationship with Ronaldo, insisting that they are still “close”.
“Our personal relationship continues to be close, a great personal relationship,” Mendes told reporters.
Mendes also lauded Ronaldo as the ex-Man Utd player is a “special player and person”.
“How do I see this phase of his life? Cristiano will always be in my heart,” Mendes added.
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“He is a special player and a special person for me. If I, a few years ago, thought that I could have a player with half the value of Cristiano, I would sign for less! And all of us Portuguese should be proud to have had and still have a player like him.
“I’ve always said it and I’ll say it all my life: he was and is the best player in the entire history of world football! I don’t have the slightest doubt, even compared to others.”
He continued: “You have to see what he managed to do. Football is goals! There’s a lot of strength there and a lot of work too.
“He’s an example for young people and he’s done everything a great professional would have to do… because he’s the best of them all! But it is also true that he was a virtuous player when he was young: you were talking about Ronaldinho Gaucho and Messi, but when he was young, Cristiano was also virtuous!
“And strong in the ‘one on one’, and explosive! Cristiano has turned into a machine! Many people never really thought about that growth process that led him, in fact, to be the best in history. And for me, he will always be the best in history.”
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