Manchester United legend Gary Neville opens up on Cristiano Ronaldo exit: 'The weather was a big problem'
Gary Neville claims there was nothing he could say to stop Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Manchester United for Real Madrid.
The Portuguese international left Old Trafford for Spain in 2009 for a then world-record £80million fee having scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for United.
Ronaldo netted 68 times in his final two seasons in England and claimed the Ballon d’Or award in 2008.
He then continued his sublime form both with Real Madrid and Juventus, adding four more Ballon d’Or titles and improving his career record to an incredible 626 goals in 836 outings.
Neville – speaking on a Sky Sports podcast – revealed that Ronaldo’s desire to move away from United was evident, both because of the English weather and his desire to live in Spain.
He also stated that he never tried to change Ronaldo’s mind about leaving, believing it was a futile exercise.
“I think because he did the interview after the 2008 final where he sort of alluded to the fact that he was going, it was almost like you had an advanced warning,” Neville explained.
"So you were almost ready-prepared for it, you knew he was leaving the year after. It was coming, it was obvious that one day he would want to go and experience [Real] Madrid and LaLiga.
"I didn't speak to Cristiano for instance about him staying at the club for longer. I think I may have said to him during the year when he was maybe… the weather was a big problem for Cristiano.
"I think he also wanted to obviously live in Spain and do LaLiga. But the weather was a big problem for him and I felt like he'd almost travelled his path, he'd done the journey.”
On whether Neville ever tried to persuade Ronaldo to stay, Neville replied: “I didn't feel that anything I was going to say was going to bring him out of that.”
Neville explained that – with Ronaldo perhaps an exception – the majority of those who left United were not on the up, but on the decline.
"I think generally with players that were leaving there were very few who were leaving to go up. Now Cristiano you could argue going to Real Madrid and winning four or five European Cups is a step for him where he wanted to challenge himself.
"The players that were leaving mainly were because they had come to the end of the road for one reason or another, either their contracts had run out, or their age was getting too much, or the manager had had a word with them saying they're not going to play football too much anymore.
"Most of the players that left Man United would have wanted to stay. Let's be clear, 99 per cent of the players that left Man United during the time I was there would have stayed if the manager had said you're staying.
"There's only the one or two per cent who left against the wishes of the club."
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