Manchester United doubted me over my daughter's illness, alleges Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that a few members of the Manchester United hierarchy doubted him when he missed their pre-season because of his daughter's illness.

In the latest set of teasers from his interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo has accused the Glazer family of not caring about the club. Ronaldo has alleged that Manchester United's two senior figures at Old Trafford treated him with suspicion when he said his daughter, Bella, was sick with bronchitis - just three months after her twin brother had died.

"I spoke with the director and the president of Man Utd and they kind of didn't believe that something was going wrong, which made me feel bad," Ronaldo told TalkTV.

In the same interview, when Ronaldo was asked to confirm they did not believe him, the Portuguese forward continued, "They believe me but in the same way [shakes head]… I am never going to change the health of my family for a football. Now, or 10 years behind or forward. And it is something that really hurt me because they doubted my word that I was struggling, especially Bella and Geo [Georgina Rodriguez, Ronaldo's girlfriend].

"We had one week in hospital because Bella had a big problem and I didn't go to the pre-season because of that. I didn't want to leave my family to do the pre-season because I didn't think it was fair to leave my family for a pre-season. This is why I didn't go."

Meanwhile, Ronaldo has also said Manchester United's owners, the Glazers, do not care about the club's sporting success. The Glazers won the ownership of the club through a leveraged buy-out in 2005, which left the Old Trafford side with a debt of more than £500m. The owners are now been widely criticised by fans and blamed for the club's decline.

Ronaldo went on to claim that with the current structure at Manchester United under the charge of the Glazers is unlikely the club will be fighting for top honours in the next few years.

"The owners of the club - the Glazers - they don't care about the club. I mean professional sport. Manchester United is a marketing club, they get their money from the marketing. The sports, they don't really care in my opinion," added Ronaldo.

When Morgan asked Ronaldo if he has spoken to the Glazers since his return to Manchester United in the summer of 2021, the Portugal national captain said," No, never. They give all the power to the president, the sporting director. The fans are always right. The fans should know the truth. They should know that the players want the best for the club, I want the best for the club.

"This is why I came to Manchester United, this is why I love this club but you have some things inside the club which doesn't help it reach the top level as City, Liverpool and even now Arsenal. It is complicated, it's difficult, it's hard. In my opinion, it will be hard for Manchester United to be top of the game in the next two or three years."

Earlier, reacting to Ronaldo's interview, Manchester United said in a statement that it will take an action after obtaining all the facts.

"Manchester United notes the media coverage regarding an interview by Cristiano Ronaldo. 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," the statement read further.