Did Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid in 2008 spark Manchester United's decline? Wayne Rooney gives honest opinion

Record 20-time English Premier League (EPL) winner Manchester United is not having an ideal season. Having been ousted in the 2021-22 FA Cup, its chances of winning a title this season are nearly quashed. As it stares at its third successive title-less season, Wayne Rooney has explained the reason for its decline since the past decade, and Cristiano Ronaldo is possibly a reason for it.

In his documentary on Amazon Prime Video, Rooney admitted United's last EPL title win in 2012-13 itself was a miracle since Robin van Persie had shouldered most of the team responsibility. He realised that United's decline started when Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in 2008. Besides, it failed to rope in Carlos Tevez in 2009 after a two-year loan spell from West Ham United, and the Argentine joined rival Manchester City.\

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"You could see after 2011; Ronaldo left in 2009, Tevez left, and after that, you could see it was going to go back before it can move forwards. That's what I could see, and that's why I was asking the questions. Unfortunately, they probably still haven't recovered from that to this day," Rooney was quoted as saying.

"A massive part of it was Van Persie. I think him coming in gave everyone a lift, coming in at number nine, scoring the goals he scored. That was a bit of a masterstroke from the manager to bring him in and have him hungry because he was a bit older. He carried us that season," Rooney concluded.