“We will never know the true story” – Ibrahimovic offers interesting perspective on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United exit

Former Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has offered his thoughts on Cristiano Ronaldo's controversial exit from the club.

Ronaldo's second spell with the Red Devils came to an abrupt end with the Premier League giants terminating his deal by mutual consent on November 22. Ibrahimovic, who himself spent a two-season spell with Manchester United, has offered his perspective on the situation.

The Swedish football icon has said that it's not possible to know the actual story, as everyone will look to protect themselves. Ibrahimovic reckons Ronaldo will look to protect his image, and the club will also do the same. The AC Milan said, as quoted by NDTV:

"His exiting United, I think when things happen, we will never know the true story. They say what they want to say, he says what he needs to say to protect himself, then you have the coach that says these things to protect himself."

"Then the club says things - not like me, I will tell you how it really happened. But we are all different. Everybody is careful about their image. For me the perfect image is being yourself. The true story we will not know my friend."

Ronaldo has endured difficult times at both club and country of late, and things are seemingly getting worse for the Portuguese superstar.

It all started in the summer when he requested a transfer, with Manchester United missing out on UEFA Champions League football. A move did not materialise, but Ronaldo's decision to miss pre-season training citing family reasons turned out to be a costly one.

The 37-year-old struggled for a place in Erik ten Hag's starting XI and hardly made an impact when he was on the pitch. Following his explosive interview with Piers Morgan last month, where he criticised the club and manager, United terminated his deal during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was also benched by Portugal manager Fernando Santos in their two knockout games. The Selecao bowed out of the FIFA World Cup in the quarterfinals with a shock 1-0 defeat to Morocco on Saturday (December 10).

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Erik ten Hag on plans to replace Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has opened up on his transfer plans to replace Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. The Dutchman said:

"Yes (I feel Manchester United need to bring in a forward), but only when we find the right players. We do everything in our power. We are doing research on every opportunity, and we do everything we can if that opportunity is there to contact them."

"I can't give comments on specific players. I will never do that. Players have contracts, and I respect that, but we make sure that we are working in the background to get the right players in."

The Red Devils return to action on Wednesday (December 21) against Burnley in the League Cup before taking on Nottingham Forest in the Premier League six days later.