Manchester United legend Eric Cantona has been openly critical of Cristiano Ronaldo for the way he left Old Trafford.
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Earlier this month, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner completed a stunning move to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr, where he will be the highest-earning footballer in the history of the sport as he is reportedly set to rake in £173 million (R3.6 billion) from his deal with the club.
The shock move came after Ronaldo fell out with United head coach Erik ten Hag following his infamous interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan. The 37-year-old was used sparingly by the Dutch tactician in the first half of the season, during which he started just four league matches for the Red Devils.
It seemed the former Sporting Lisbon youth product struggled to accept his new role as an impact substitute, which led to the chain of events that saw him leave United for the second time in his career.
Cantona, who retired at 30, has since urged Ronaldo to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer the young star he once was, suggesting he should have focused more on helping younger players at Old Trafford.
"He came back here and United wasn't the United he left and sometimes he doesn't realise things changed. So maybe he was surprised so many things changed," the Frenchman told Manchester Evening News.
"I think you have two kinds of players at the end of their career. Me, I decided to retire young, that's another thing. And then the one who wants to play and play until the age of 40 years old.
"You have two kind of players: the one who wants to play every game because they still think they're 25 years old and the ones who realise they are not 25 years old and they are here to help the young players, they know they will not play every game, they know they will play some games.
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"But their part is to help the young players. Like [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic still does it with Milan, Ryan Giggs [at United] or [Paolo] Maldini when he was in Milan. But I think Ronaldo didn't realise – and he still doesn't realise – he's not 25 years old."
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