Gary Neville hits back at Cristiano Ronaldo with sarcastic response after Man Utd star revealed ‘he’s not my friend’
CHEEKY Gary Neville hit back at Cristiano Ronaldo with a sarcastic response.
The Manchester United forward famously snubbed Neville pitchside last month after the former right-back’s criticism.
In his world-exclusive interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo slammed the Sky Sports pundit.
He boisterously declared: “He’s not my friend.”
And then the Portuguese added: “We’re not ever having dinner together.”
Now Nev has got a dig in against the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
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He quipped on Twitter: “Anyone for dinner?”
Neville then retweeted a Sky Sports video showing Bruno Fernandes’ frosty handshake with Ronaldo in the Portugal dressing room.
Ronaldo blanked Neville live on TV at the end of last month — ignoring the ex-Red Devils skipper while warming up ahead of a game against West Ham.
The fixture came days after Ronaldo was left out of the squad to play Chelsea because he refused to come on as a substitute against Spurs.
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After the Chelsea game, Neville — who shared a dressing room with Ronaldo for seven years — said: “We know him, we love him but he can’t accept not being the star man. He’s going to have to leave, that’s it.”
Ronaldo responded: “To listen as ex-colleagues or team-mates criticise you, when they only see one point of view. It’s easy.
“It’s easy to criticise, I don’t know if you have a job in television that they must criticise to be more famous. I really don’t understand it.
“It’s hard when you see people who was in the dressing room with you criticising that way.”
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When asked if Neville had used his name to get attention, he responded: “I think they take advantage of that because they are not stupid.
“I’m the number one followed guy in the world. It’s not by coincidence.”
Ronaldo also hit out at Wayne Rooney in a similar way but sided with the likes of Rio Ferdinand and his favourite United captain, Roy Keane.
As well as targeting ex-players, the forward fired shots at the Glazers, the board, Ralf Rangnick and in particular current boss Erik ten Hag, who he said he had no respect for.
The Red Devils are said to be deeply frustrated with their No7 for going on the record with the public interview, which will be shown on TalkTV this week.
United chiefs including Ten Hag and chief executive Richard Arnold met on Monday to discuss their response and the punishment for Ronaldo.
The club – who are taking on legal advice – said in a statement: “Manchester United notes the media coverage regarding an interview by Cristiano Ronaldo.
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The club will consider its response after the full facts have been established.
“Our focus remains on preparing for the second half of the season and continuing the momentum, belief and togetherness being built among the players, manager, staff, and fans.”
Watch ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored: 90 Minutes with Ronaldo’, 8pm on Wednesday and Thursday on TalkTV. Find TalkTV on Sky 526, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237, Freesat 217 and Sky Glass 508, live and on demand on the TalkTV app, streaming services and at Talk.TV