Why Is Cristiano Ronaldo Feuding With Manchester United and His Manager?

Cristiano Ronaldo is not holding back with his claims that he's being mistreated by his club Manchester United in an upcoming interview with Piers Morgan.

However, despite bold new quotes from the Portuguese soccer star, his tensions with the club have been building for some time.

Ronaldo's talk on Piers Morgan Uncensored will air in the U.K. on TalkTV on Wednesday and Thursday and on Fox Nation in the U.S. The YouTube account for the show shared a preview clip on Monday, while Morgan has been promoting the appearance on Twitter.

Ronaldo, 37, is shown not only saying he feels betrayed by the club, but he also offers a less-than-favorable opinion of Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.

"I don't have respect for him [Ten Hag] because he doesn't show respect for me," Ronaldo said in an interview fragment.

Ten Hag has acknowledged to the press that Ronaldo is unhappy with his lack of playing time, while Morgan recently condemned the manager for not putting Ronaldo on the field more often.

"The way Ten Hag seems to delight in humiliating @Cristiano is pathetic. Sticking the world's greatest ever footballer on the bench, making him repeatedly warm up, then not even use him as a sub, is just staggeringly disrespectful to United's top scorer last season," Morgan tweeted on October 20.

Ronaldo has also publicly shown his displeasure with the club since this summer, but he indicated to Morgan in their new interview that the issues stretch back to last year.

"Not only the coach but another two or three guys around the club. I felt betrayed," Ronaldo told Morgan in a new interview clip of feeling like he's unwanted on the squad.

When Morgan pressed if senior executives at Manchester United were "trying to get rid" him, Ronaldo replied, "Yes, I felt betrayed and I felt like some people don't want me here, not only this year but last year too."

Earlier this year, Ronaldo's partner, model Georgina Rodríguez, gave birth to twins, but their son died on April 18. Ronaldo told Morgan that when his infant girl fell ill, he was forced to return late for pre-season training with Manchester United.

The footballer accused the club of showing a lack of "empathy" and added that club officials doubted him about his daughter's illness.

This summer, Ronaldo's problems with the club spilled out onto the field. After starting a preseason game against Rayo Vallecano in July, he was substituted at half-time and later pictured leaving Old Trafford stadium early. In an interview with Viaplay Sport soon after the incident, Ten Hag called Ronaldo's behavior "unacceptable."

On October 19, Ronaldo again walked out during a game before the final whistle blew. While Manchester United went on to defeat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Old Trafford during that match-up, the world-famous striker—who was an unused substitute in the game—had already exited without his manager's permission.

His actions during the game against Tottenham resulted in Ten Hag having Ronaldo sit out a game that weekend against Chelsea as punishment.

"Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of the Manchester United squad for this Saturday's Premier League game against Chelsea," Manchester United said in a brief statement at the time. "The rest of the squad is fully focused on preparing for that fixture."

On Monday, Manchester United released a statement about Ronaldo's upcoming interview.

"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," the statement read. "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."

Newsweek reached out to Ronaldo's management for comment.