Cristiano Ronaldo believes Erik ten Hag was wrong to tell the press that Manchester United cannot compete for major titles at the moment.

According to Ronaldo, the manager’s speech shows that he cannot lead the Old-Trafford outfit to glory.

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s Five YouTube channel, Ronaldo said: “You can’t rebuild a club you don’t understand.

“Manchester United, they need to rebuild everything, in my opinion. The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the Premier League and Champions League. Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the League or Champions League.

“You have to be, to mentally say, ‘listen maybe we don’t have that potential, but I cannot say that. We’re going to try. You have to try.

One of Ronaldo’s former team-mates in Ruud van Nistelrooy is back in Manchester in a coaching capacity having previously been in charge at PSV.

Ronaldo believes the former striker can aid United’s rebuild if Ten Hag opts to lean on him – claiming the current manager “doesn’t understand” the Red Devils and needs to lean on ex-players.

“If Ten Hag listens to Ruud, maybe he can help the club,” he said. “I think he can help a lot. And the club should listen to the players who played there. You [Rio Ferdinand] or Roy Keane or Paul Scholes or Gary Neville, whoever it is, Sir Alex Ferguson.

“You can’t rebuild a club you don’t understand.”

However, many believe Ronaldo’s comment may have stem from his feud with ten Hag that ended his time at Old Trafford in late 2022 when he was snubbed by the coach.

Ten Hag ended United’s wait for silverware when he claimed the Carabao Cup just months after Ronaldo’s contract was terminated.