'Never told me he wanted to leave': Ten Hag breaks silence on Ronaldo's Man United exit

A few weeks after Manchester United terminated Cristiano Ronaldo's contract by mutual consent, club coach Erik ten Hag has finally broken his silence on the Portuguese international's exit from the club. The 37-year-old almost forced his way out of the club after giving an explosive interview to Piers Morgan, one in which he left no stone unturned in slamming the club and their head coach Ten Hag.

'I wanted him to stay': Ten Hag on Cristiano Ronaldo

While speaking to UK media in Cadiz (as quoted by Sky Sports), Erik ten Hag said, "I wanted him to stay from the first moment until now. He wanted to leave, it was quite clear. And when a player definitely doesn't want to be in this club then he has to go." While the Dutch manager admitted that it seemed clear that the 37-year-old wanted to leave the club, he shockingly stated that the first time he heard about the same was in the interview that Cristiano Ronaldo had with Piers Morgan.

"The interview was the first time he said he wanted to leave," added Ten Hag. "I think as a club you can't accept that. There will be consequences. To make that step, [to do the interview] he knew the consequences. Before he [had] never told me. During the season there was no transfer window, but until that moment he never told me 'I want to leave'."

Speaking of the only conversation he had with Ronaldo, Ten Hag added, "In the summer we had one talk. He came in and said, 'I will tell you in seven days if I want to stay'. Then he came back and said, 'I want to stay'. Until that moment [the interview] I never heard anything. We wanted him to be part of our project, [for] him to contribute to Manchester United because he is a great player. He has such a great history, but it's in the past and we have to look into the future."

Since Ronaldo is currently a free agent, he is likely to attract several offers in the upcoming January transfer window.