"It was a bad idea" - Journalist claims Cristiano Ronaldo caused Marcus Rashford's downfall at Manchester United
Journalist Mark Ogden has blamed Cristiano Ronaldo for the struggles of Marcus Rashford at Manchester United, which culminated in his leaving the club. The duo played together at Old Trafford in the 2021-22 season and the first half of the 2022-23 season before the Portuguese great moved to Saudi Arabia.
Manchester United completed a sensational transfer for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021 after he made his wish to leave Juventus clear. Then 36 years old, he returned to the Red Devils for the first time since leaving the club for €94 million to join Real Madrid in 2009. He had been linked with Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, but the intervention of Sir Alex Ferguson and his former teammates at United swayed his decision to return to his former club.
Speaking via ESPN, senior writer Ogden blamed the Portuguese great for the struggles of Marcus Rashford at the club. He also pointed out that Ronaldo's arrival at the club led Edinson Cavani to leave despite impressing early in Manchester.
"He (Ronaldo) destabilized Marcus Rashford's development. I think Marcus Rashford, at that point, was growing into a role where he was the United, the main guy at United. The way that Ronaldo played, I think Ole Gunnar Solskjaer basically said 'there you go, there's Ronaldo, make it work'. Ole was just about building a team that was, you know, Cavani had done well in his first season, Rashford was developing, and then Ronaldo comes and plays through the middle. Rashford has to play out of position, Cavani loses interest, loses his shirt number, obviously has to give up the number seven.
Ogden claimed that the decision of Manchester United to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo was not a football one, and it cost them Rashford, one of their biggest academy products.
"And as well as Ronaldo did on his own, the team didn't do well, and I think, you know, I'm as big a Ronaldo fan as anybody. I think he's a brilliant player, brilliant professional, but he did actually, it was all about the noise off the pitch, and the kind of showbiz with that. It wasn't a football move, it was a bad idea football-wise, and it did kind of say, like I say, it knocked Rashford out of his development. I don't think Rashford's been the same player since. His progress was halted and diverted by Ronaldo coming back, and that is kind of the consequence of the move."
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 24 goals in 38 appearances for the Red Devils in the 2021-22 season and three goals in 16 appearances before leaving in 2022-23. Rashford scored five goals in 32 appearances in 2021-22 and 30 in the 2022-23 season, his best goalscoring season to date.
Rashford scored eight goals in the entirety of the 2023-24 season and scored seven goals this season. The 27-year-old completed a temporary switch to Aston Villa on a short-term loan with an option to buy at the end of the season.
Cristiano Ronaldo makes shock revelation about Manchester United transfer
Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that Manchester United were not the first club to approach him as a youngster in Portugal. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner left boyhood club Sporting CP to join the Red Devils as an 18-year-old in 2003.
In an interview with El Chiringuito, the 40-year-old revealed that he had the option of joining Barcelona before the Red Devils came along. He pointed out that the Spanish giants attempted to sign him at 17 in 2002 but he decided against joining them.
“I could have played for Barça before Manchester United. I was at Sporting, they tried to sign me. They wanted me but one year after. Then Manchester United appeared."
Cristiano Ronaldo impressed in a pre-season friendly against the Red Devils in 2003, prompting them to move to sign him. He enjoyed a successful spell at Old Trafford, winning the Ballon d'Or in 2008, before leaving for a world-record fee to join Real Madrid.