LONDON: Cristiano Ronaldo is flying off to lead Portugal at the World Cup leaving a verbal time bomb behind him at Manchester United.

Ronaldo told Piers Morgan in a television show that he felt “betrayed” by the club and criticised the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the subsquent contracting of Ralf Rangnick and the attitude towards him of current manager Erik ten Hag.

Unsurprisingly, Ronaldo was nowhere in sight in west London where United beat Fulham in the last Premier League match before the World Cup break.

Ronaldo returned to United at the start of last season, turning his back on the chance to join Manchester City after a personal appeal from his mentor Sir Alex Ferguson.

He said: “I followed my heart. He (Sir Alex) said to me: ‘It’s impossible for you to come to Manchester City’, and I said, ‘OK, Boss’.”

In his first game back at Old Trafford Ronaldo scored twice in a 4-1 victory over Newcastle but quickly disillusion set in.

He said: “The progress was zero. Since Sir Alex left, I saw no evolution in the club. Nothing had changed.

“But you have some things inside that don’t help (us) reach the top level as City, Liverpool and even now Arsenal. A club with this dimension should be top of the tree in my opinion and they are not unfortunately.

“I love Manchester United, I love the fans, they’re always on my side. But if they want to do it different… they have to change many, many things.”

Ronaldo exempted Ferguson from criticism, saying: “He knows better than anybody that the club is not on the path they deserve to be.

“He knows. Everyone knows. The people who don’t see that… it’s because they don’t want to see; they are blind.”

Ronaldo retained his respet for sacked former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but had nothing good to say for Rangnick and Ten Hag.

He said: “If you’re not even a coach [like Rangnick], how are you going to be the boss of Manchester United? I’d never even heard of him.”

As for Ten Hag, who suspended Ronaldo last month for refusing to come on as a last-minute substitute against Tottenham, he said: “I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me.”

** Christian Eriksen played a decisive role as Manchester United won 2:1 at Fulham to wrap up the Premier League campaign before the World Cup break.

The Denmark playmaker opened the scoring in the 14th minute then provided the stoppage-time assist for Alejandro Garnacho. The Madrid-born Argentina youth international, 18, was United’s Young Player of the Year last season.

##########