'It got out of hand': Ruud van Nistelrooy insists his fall-out with Cristiano Ronaldo was 'blown up'

Ruud van Nistelrooy insists that his training ground fall-out with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United wasn't as big of a deal as it has been made out to be.

Ronaldo joined Van Nistelrooy at United in 2003 and it was reported that the two didn't quite see eye to eye at first, culminating in clash during training.

Van Nistelrooy is believed to have grown frustrated with the flicks and tricks of the then 18-year-old Ronaldo, telling him he should 'join the circus'.

Ronaldo was said to be extreemely upset at the time but Van Nistelrooy says the incident was blown out of proportion.

The Dutchman was speaking on The Overlap to Gary Neville, who was also a member of the team at the time.

'People talk about the ronaldo situation a lot don't they,' Neville said. 'I was frustrated at the time because I was used to playing with David (Beckham). It was telepathy, we knew exactly what he was going to do. Then Cristiano came and it was different. He was running everywhere he would dribble, he would be unpredictable.

,Did you feel frustration with Cristiano, Neville then asked, to which Van Nistelrooy responded: 'It got a bit out of hand with that situation. I think the way we are in a relationship Cristiano and I is fine, now, in general. It's been really blown up

'It was an argument in training. That's the story but in the end we figured it out together and we moved on and the relationship is perfect.

'It was a transition moment in the team with younger guys. Rooney came, Ronaldo came, young promising guys. We needed some time to adjust.

'I would also talk to me now if I was coaching. I would say "this is a transition moment, you need to have patience with these young guys". We didn't have patience.'