Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown has revealed that he feels 'gutted' that Cristiano Ronaldo has opted to make his grievances with the club public.
On Sunday, Piers Morgan revealed that he sat down with Ronaldo to discuss his time at Old Trafford since returning in 2021. What has now been deemed an 'explosive' interview, the 37-year-old reiterates that he feels 'disrespected' and 'betrayed' by United and certain figures around the club have been criticised.
Erik ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick, Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville and the Glazers have all been slammed by the Portuguese forward in clips that have been released so far. For Brown, he wishes to watch the full interview before passing too much judgement but he does admit that it should have stayed behind closed doors.
"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," he told Fair Betting Sites. "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."
While Brown believes it is undeniable that United have fallen from grace since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, the 43-year-old did praise Ten Hag and he thinks that Ronaldo's comments will not hinder him or the squad too much. "He'll just deal with it because he's got a squad of players that he'll be more focused on," he added.
"This is obviously a situation that's not needed at any time but Ten Hag will just get on with what he's got now, with or without Ronaldo. I think Ronaldo would've left Manchester United in the summer anyway but that might change now whereby he leaves a bit earlier.
"There'll be lots of contractual scenarios that need sorting out but ultimately it's down to the club and Ronaldo to handle that and for Ten Hag to focus on the team."
Ronaldo is currently away from Carrington at present as the Premier League breaks for the Qatar World Cup. Ronaldo's full interview is set to be released in two parts on Wednesday and Thursday this week.