"IT'S OVER!" Ten Hag reignites Ronaldo feud with brutal message insisting he hasn't been the same player for last EIGHT years

Erik ten Hag has once again hit out at Cristiano Ronaldo by claiming that the former Manchester United superstar hasn't been able to deliver for 'seven or eight years'. Ronaldo infamously fell out with Ten Hag during their five-month spell together at Old Trafford, leading to the forward's acrimonious exit.

The pair never saw eye-to-eye and Ten Hag lifted the lid on their relationship in a bombshell interview earlier this month. The ex-Red Devils boss accused Ronaldo of 'letting the team down' with his lack of effort in training while telling United's players to go against his instructions.

On Sunday, Ten Hag appeared as a guest on Dutch programme Goedemorgen Eredivisie and fiercely criticised the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. "Every top team must embrace the top player, but the top player must work for the team," Ten Hag explained.

"That was the problem with Ronaldo. The players wanted to work for him, because naturally they looked up to him. But for the last seven or eight years, he just hasn't been able to deliver. Since Juventus, it's simply over."

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It was Juventus who Ronaldo left in 2021 to rejoin United when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in the hot seat. The Portuguese scored a remarkable 101 goals in 134 games for Juve, and he was the joint-top scorer at the European Championship weeks before the transfer.

But Ten Hag - who was Solskjaer's permanent successor - insists that after Real Madrid sold him for £99million in 2018, Ronaldo was never the same. "That is Real Madrid's great gift: they know when to part ways with players whose level is declining at the right moment," the current Twente technical director added.

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"He had a special status. I went to see him before the season started. I explained to him how we wanted to play, what I expected of him, and what he could expect from me. But ultimately, you have to deliver yourself as well."

"He could no longer bring himself to torture himself, to give his all every day, to go all out during training and get fit. If you are not fit in the Premier League, you stand no chance."

It was then put to Ten Hag that Ronaldo is renowned for his incredible fitness record and continues to score goals for Al-Nassr aged 41. "That is the perception, and that is of course how he became so great," Ten Hag responded.

"But ultimately, he could no longer muster the energy to do it every day. If you can't do that anymore, the laws of the Premier League are ruthless. Then you simply can't keep up.

"At a moment like that, I have to make choices in the interest of the team. Ultimately, the choice lay with him: whether or not he wanted to make that investment."