Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed in his explosive interview this week with Piers Morgan that the reason he was late for pre-season training with Manchester United was because his daughter Bella had fallen ill while on holiday in Mallorca.
He told Piers Morgan when asked why he was a week late for pre-season: “I had a very bad pre-season. I had some problems on vacation, where one of my children had broncitus. I was in Mallorca and she (Bella) had to spend one week in hospital.
“People made up stories that I wanted to go and travel. People need to realise that I am a human being and want to be with my family. I am a human being and travelled through difficult moments.
“I spoke with the director and president of United and they kind of didn’t believe that something was going wrong. I am never going to swap my family’s health for football. Never. That really hurt me.
“They (United) doubted my words. We had one week in hospital because of Bella’s problems. I didn’t go to pre-season because of that. It was not fair to leave my family for pre-season.”
Ronaldo and his family spent most of this summer at a private villa on the island.