Cristiano Ronaldo Has Not Tarnished His Manchester United Legacy Despite Bitter End to Second Stint, Says Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney believes that Cristiano Ronaldo’s status as a Manchester United has not been diminished by the way his second stint at the Old Trafford outfit came to an end.

Cristiano Ronaldo re-signed for Manchester United in the summer transfer window of 2021, making a sensational return to the Premier League club. But, he left Manchester United in November 2022 on a rather bitter note after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Cristiano Ronaldo had sat down for an explosive interview with Piers Morgan before the termination of his Manchester United contract. The Portuguese superstar criticized Erik ten Hag among many others in the interview.

It was a bitter end to Cristiano Ronaldo’s second stint at Manchester United. Ronaldo has since signed for Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr in a deal that makes him the highest-paid footballer in the world.

Wayne Rooney: What Cristiano Ronaldo Has Done For Manchester United is Great

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Wayne Rooney believes Cristiano Ronaldo has not tarnished his status as a Manchester United despite the way his second stint at the club came to a close.

“No, I think what he’s done for Manchester United is great,” Wayne Rooney told CNN when asked if the way Cristiano Ronaldo left the Red Devils diminished his status as a club legend.

“And he’s won Premier League titles, won the Champions League, scored many goals.

“So I think certainly for the fans and certainly for the players, his former teammates who played with him from my time especially, we’ll never forget what he did for Manchester United.

“Because in my eyes, he’ll always be a club legend and it’s a shame the way it ended of course this time round. But I don’t think that takes anything away from his legacy at the club.”

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has been largely impressive for Al-Nassr, the club he currently plies his trade for. He has appeared in 10 games for Al-Nassr so far this season and has racked up nine goals and two assists.

He also starred for Portugal during the March international break when they played two of their UEFA EURO Qualifiers matches. Ronaldo scored two goals each against Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Portugal won both games as they got their UEFA EURO Qualifiers campaign off to a great start.