One of the biggest reasons Cristiano Ronaldo has maintained a high standard on the football pitch is his mentality. However, according to Mike Phelan, it was one reason for his Manchester United exit. The former United legend reveals that the Portuguese icon lost some players in the dressing room because of his “tough” nature.

The Portugal captain has had two stints at Manchester United. He arrived as an 18-year-old at Old Trafford in 2003 and left as the best player in the world in 2009, joining Real Madrid. He returned for his second stint in 2021, but this time, his ending was sour. In an exclusive interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo claims that he was “betrayed” by Manchester United and their staff. The club eventually made the decision to terminate his contract, and the Portuguese icon joined Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr.

In an interview with Sky Sports, Phelan revealed how everything fell apart during Ronaldo's second Manchester United stint. He said, “The second time around, he came in a lot older and a lot more opinionated, strong-willed. ”

“He still had massively high standards and was terrific to work with. But I'd probably say a tougher mindset. He had been at Manchester United, he had been Portugal's ever-present, he had been at Madrid.”

“I liked it because he didn't want his standards to drop. He wanted other people's standards to come up. And sometimes, you lose a few people along the way when that happens. I remember certain times when he pushed and pushed hard, and he didn't get much reaction or much response. And there was frustration.”

“When you deal with top, top people, it's about them and where they can finish and where they can get to. They want to look back and go, “Wow, that was successful. And he probably realized, and I don't know as I never had that conversation with him, that he couldn't do it at Manchester United. So his challenges were elsewhere.”