'They need to change!' - Cristiano Ronaldo claims Man Utd still 'don't have a structure' with Ruben Amorim unable to perform 'miracles'

“For me, I'm sad because of the club, that’s one of the most important clubs in the world, and a club that I still have in my heart because of the obvious reasons,” Ronaldo began in the combined sit-down for his YouTube channel and Talk TV's Piers Morgan Uncensored.

“You have to follow with the intelligent people, smart people, to create a base for the future as Manchester United have [done] so many years ago. Nicky Butt, Gary [Neville], Roy Keane, Beckham, they became big players but they had youth. So Manchester United right now, they don't have a structure.

“I hope that changes in the future, present/future, because the potential of the club, it's amazing. It's one of the most important clubs of the century.”

The Al-Nassr and Portugal superstar added on the task Amorim is facing: “He is doing his best, what else can he do? He can’t do miracles. We say in Portugal, ‘Miracles is only in Fatima’... And he’s not gonna do miracles. They have good players but they don’t have, some of them, in mind what Manchester United is.”

When pressed on United's chances of clinching the Premier League title this season, Ronaldo replied: "It's not possible for them to win the Premier League. They're already too many points behind Arsenal."

Ronaldo believes that the club's hierarchy is still failing to take the steps needed to bring United back to the top of the game, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS now overseeing football operations and the Glazer family taking a backseat as majority owners.

He added: “Of course (it hurts me) because I played there for so many years. I win the Champions League, the Golden Ball, I win like 12, 13, 14 titles there, so as I say and I repeat, Manchester United is still in my heart. I love that club. But we have to all be honest and look for ourselves and say we are not in a good path, so they need to change, and it is not only about the coach and players, in my opinion.”

Ronaldo made similar claims in his last interview with Morgan back in November 2022, which led to the abrupt end of his second spell at United. The former Real Madrid and Juventus frontman criticised the club's younger players and accused then-manager Erik ten Hag of disrespecting him, while also expressing his belief that the club had stagnated after the departure of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.

"At United, the progress was zero, in my opinion," Ronaldo said. "To compare with Real Madrid and even Juventus, that they follow the rest of the world, so the technology, especially in terms of training, nutrition and conditioning, eat properly and to recover better than before - surprised me.

"Manchester right now to compare with that club, I think it's behind in my opinion, which is something that surprised me. A club with this dimension should be the top of the tree in my opinion and they are not, unfortunately. They are not in that level. But I hope the next years they can reach to be in a top level.

"I don't know what's going on but since Sir Alex Ferguson left I saw no evolution in the club, the progress was zero."

Ronaldo's latest comments are unlikely to go down well with Ratcliffe. The INEOS chairman has delivered state-of-the-art new training facilities and invested heavily in new players to take the team forward, with a £170 million ($222m) summer splurge seeing the likes of Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo all arrive at Old Trafford.

United are seemingly making progress on the pitch as a result, having picked up 10 points from a possible 12 across their last four league games to move into the top eight. However, Ronaldo's thoughts on a title bid are a fair reflection of the eight-point gap between his old club and Arsenal.

Amorim will aim to deliver another positive result when the Red Devils travel to Tottenham on Saturday. Ronaldo, meanwhile, is due back in Saudi Pro League action for Al-Nassr against Neom on the same day.

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