Cristiano Ronaldo refused to sit on Manchester United bench under Ralf Rangnick as reports of his demands emerge

According to a report by Bild, Cristiano Ronaldo told interim Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick that he won't sit on the bench for the club back in 2022. The Portuguese icon also insisted he would watch games he was not involved in at home, refusing to be seen on the bench.

Fans hailed Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Old Trafford, however it failed to produce the expected results. Ole Gunnar Solskaer, who was manager when the legendary striker was signed, was replaced by Rangnick who had a strained relationship with the Los Blancos icon.

The pair only played together for a short time, with the Austrian brought in to see out the 2021-22 season. The pair do not look fondly on their time with each other. Following his stint with Manchester United, Rangnick has said of Cristiano Ronaldo (via Mirror):

"He’s not a pressing monster. He’s not a player, even when he was a young player, who was crying, shouting 'hooray, the other team has got the ball, where can we win balls? The same with quite a few other players so we had to make some compromises at one stage, maybe we made a few too many - that’s also possible."

Ronaldo had words for Rangnick in his explosive interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan, saying:

"If you're not even a coach, how are you going to be the boss of Manchester United? I'd never even heard of him."

Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Manchester United was effectively ended by the interview, with the club terminating his contract shortly after.

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Former Manchester United star questions the decision to let Cristiano Ronaldo leave the club

Former Manchester United midfielder Anderson has revealed his surprise that Cristiano Ronaldo was allowed to leave the club. The Brazilian, who once lived with the Portuguese icon in England, believes a player of Ronaldo's quality should have been kept at the club no matter the cost.

Anderson told GOAL:

“When Cristiano came back... man, it's Cristiano Ronaldo. Protect him. Today Cristiano has 50 goals. ‘Ah, but it's in Saudi Arabia’, but he has 50 goals! Out of three chances, he will make two, that's a fact. And whoever plays against him is afraid."

"And today nobody is afraid of playing against Manchester. They know that Manchester is taking beatings after beatings. Ronaldo arrived at a time when Manchester was under construction, and he scored 25 goals. And then he left.”

The Portuguese forward contributed 27 goals in 54 games across competitions for the Red Devils during his second stint at Old Trafford.