Gary Neville has said he would still shake Cristiano Ronaldo's hand after the Manchester United forward criticised him in an explosive interview.
Ronaldo was unavailable for United's match against Fulham on Sunday afternoon due to illness, but he still managed to make headlines and overshadow the 2-1 victory in London when a bombshell interview emerged later that day.
The 37-year-old has been interviewed by Piers Morgan, with the second part of that discussion to be shown on Thursday night, and he's used that platform to criticise Erik ten Hag, United, the Glazers, Neville and Wayne Rooney among others.
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In the interview, Ronaldo expressed his surprise at his former teammates, including Neville, who have been critical of his performances and behaviour this season, while he also insisted those players were not his friends, merely his former colleagues. Ronaldo said he would not have dinner with Neville, for example, but the animosity is clearly not shared on both sides.
Neville was asked about Ronaldo's comments on Thursday and he said he would still shake Ronaldo's hand.
"I'm not against Cristiano Ronaldo, far from it. I couldn't have any more admiration for him, respect for him, for what he's done. He's the greatest footballer I've ever seen and the most talented I've played with at Manchester United," Neville told Sky Sports.
"I saw his comments and I accept that we will live in the game of the media, we accept we get criticism back, that's the world we live in. I would still shake Cristiano's hand, he may not shake mine but I don't carry things forward.
"When I had that debate [about Ronaldo] after the Chelsea game, I urged Manchester United and Cristiano to come together that week - because it was obvious the relationship had failed - and navigate a pathway to January, whereby they would basically create a truce, as exits don't have to happen this way if both sides are proactive and mature.
"I'm disappointed that the meeting doesn't seem to have happened. Cristiano hasn't been controlled or managed and it doesn't look like Cristiano, to be fair, has also reached out to the club on his side and opened communication lines.
"It's ended in this unsavoury situation whereby it looks like he will end this period of his reign at Manchester United with not a feeling that it should be. He's one of the greatest ever players in the world and it's obviously sometimes difficult.
"It doesn't feel right as a United fan. I don't think he wants a way back, I think this interview was something he knew would bring the end of his United career. If you do that in any business, there's no employment going to be there.
"United know they need to terminate his contract, or else they open up a precedent that any player can criticise them in the future. The reality is, if you say those things, your employment has to terminate and United have to do that in the next few days.
"Cristiano probably wants that as well, but it didn't have to end like that."
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