“It’s not the end of the world” - Anthony Elanga opens up on classy advice from Cristiano Ronaldo during time at Manchester United
Nottingham Forest attacker Anthony Elanga recently revealed a piece of advice he received from Cristiano Ronaldo during his time at Manchester United.
Speaking to The Times, the Sweden international revealed how the Portuguese superstar consoled him after he missed a penalty in a game.
He said:
"They are easily approachable, I enjoyed working with them and I think they enjoyed working with me. I’ve always been someone who wants to find that extra percentage to improve. Having Ronaldo come in, I tried to take some chapters out of his book and try and form it into mine.
"There was a time when I missed a penalty [against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup] and after that, he kept speaking to me and telling me, ‘It’s not the end of the world, I’ve missed loads before and you’ve shown character and professionalism taking one at your age.’ I took that on board and that’s really helpful."
Elanga came up through Manchester United's youth system. He made his senior debut in May 2021, starting in a 2-1 loss to Leicester City where he was replaced after 66 minutes by Marcus Rashford.
After struggling to establish himself in the first team, the 21-year-old was sold at the beginning of the 2023-24 season to Nottingham Forest for a reported fee of £15 million. He has impressed for the side, scoring five goals and setting up seven more in 27 games across all competitions.
Elanga will face his former club with Manchester United in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Gary Neville believes Manchester United ownership have already decided on ten Hag's future
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has claimed that new Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has already decided on Erik ten Hag's future despite the results this season.
Speaking on Monday Night Football, he said:
"If you look at [Omar Berrada] coming in from City as CEO, and looking to get Dan Ashworth from Newcastle, they're going to make a decision quite quickly if they haven't already," he said.
"I suspect Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Dave Brailsford already know whether Erik ten Hag will be the manager next season. I can't believe they're going to wait until May to make that decision, and then leave themselves short."
The Red Devils have had a difficult start to the season, getting knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages and finding themselves eighth in the Premier League standings at Christmas.
However, they have managed to turn it around, climbing up to sixth, eight points off the top four. They are also in the fifth round of the FA Cup, which represents their only likely chance at silverware this season.