Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is often accused of being selfish with the ball, and now one of his former team-mares has come out and called the Portuguese as ‘self-centred’, not that that’s anything new.
One of CR7’s former Real Madrid team-mates, Jerzy Dudek, says the Man United star is ‘self-centred’ with a ‘great desire to win.’ Ronaldo, 36, has had accusations of selfishness leveled at him throughout his entire career, not as if the Portuguese cares a hoot about what other people think of him.
After all, in his own mind, his success should speak for itself.
In a near 20-year career with tenures at Sporting Lisbon, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus, the Portuguese has won seven domestic titles, five Champions League trophies, not to mention countless other team and individual awards.
Individual accolades matter a great deal to the four-time Ballon d’Or winner, so perhaps it’s no surprise to hear one of the star’s former team-mates describe him as “self-centred.”
Dudek is better associated with Liverpool than Madrid, but the gangly Pole spent four years at the Bernabeu, two of those alongside Ronaldo.
And although Dudek only made 12 appearances for Los Blancos, he clearly got a real feel for the sort of character CR7 was during their time together as team-mates.
As Ronaldo rejoins Manchester United and reclaims his coveted ‘7’ jersey, here’s where to get yours:
Speaking to Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport, he revealed:
“Raul was a really arrogant character, but all in all he was a normal guy. Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, is very self-centered but has a great desire to win.
“I’m sure he would prefer a 1-0 with his own goal to a 5-0 without finding the way, of the goal. Behind the scenes, however, he is an absolutely normal guy, but I understand that he can be perceived differently from the outside.”
Ronaldo has faced more accusations of selfishness since his return to United last summer, yet he remains one of their most influential players.
The Portuguese has 14 goals in 21 appearances for United this season, making him the club’s top scorer ahead of Bruno Fernandes, who is on five.
Although Ronaldo didn’t feature in the FA Cup win over Aston Villa on Monday, Ronaldo should be involved when Ralf Rangnick’s side visit Villa Park in the Premier League next Saturday.