Al Nassr star Cristiano Ronaldo “could have helped” Manchester United from suffering a humiliating 7-0 defeat to archrivals Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
That is according to Ronaldo’s former United teammate Louis Saha, who believes the five-time Ballon d’Or winner had more to offer to Erik ten Hag’s men.
Ronaldo’s contract at Old Trafford was terminated last November after his bombshell interview on TalkTV with TV host Piers Morgan.
The 38-year-old Portuguese forward openly criticised United manager Ten Hag in the aforementioned interview, as well as taking aim at the Glazer family.
Ronaldo, whose role in the United first team had been limited under Ten Hag, inked a lucrative contract with Al Nassr after his second departure from the Red Devils.
United had been undefeated in their last 11 matches across all competitions before their nightmare trip to Anfield on the weekend.
Goals from Liverpool quartet Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino ensured a crushing Premier League defeat for Ten Hag’s men.
Speaking to Compare.bet, Saha insisted Ronaldo would have been helpful if he were still at the club for the Liverpool clash and believes United would be “better if they had Cristiano up top.”
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“Ronaldo’s departure marked a fresh start for United, and it gave Ten Hag a blank page to draw upon, which has allowed him to establish a winning mentality at the club,” he said.
“Now that the club’s mindset has improved, I think they’d be doing even better if they had Cristiano up top.
“Of course, it’s hard to know for sure, but when I see United losing 7-0 to Liverpool, I can only think that Cristiano could have helped.”
United will resume their Europa League campaign on Thursday with an away trip to Real Sociedad for the first-leg round-of-16 clash, with kick-off slated for 8pm UK time.
