
On Monday, footage emerged of Fernandes joining up with his Portugal team-mates ahead of the Qatar World Cup.
The moment he was greeted by Ronaldo raised eyebrows as Fernandes initially appeared to ignore Ronaldo’s outstretched hand before belatedly shaking it and making a comment that left the five-time Ballon d’Or winner stony-faced.
Fernandes then walked away to greet other team-mates – doing so in a far more cheery manner.
The footage led to speculation that Fernandes was left annoyed by some of the comments Ronaldo made in his explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
Just hours before Fernandes arrived for World Cup duty, the first clips of the interview were released, with Ronaldo saying he feels ‘betrayed’ by Manchester United and does not trust Erik ten Hag.
But Portugal midfielder Joao Mario was quick to dismiss talk of a rift in the dressing room, claiming Ronaldo and Fernandes shared a joke during the aforementioned clip.
Fernandes attempted to downplay the incident
Cristiano Ronaldo hit out at Manchester United in a stunning interview
‘He wants to be sacked, that’s obvious. He told the club in the summer that he wanted to leave, which is football – these things happen. There were no takers, maybe because of his wages or the price Manchester United wanted.
‘I think he knows that’s going to be the same in this next transfer window and maybe the following summer and he is now trying to be sacked or wants to leave on a free. That’s the only way he’s going to get out.
‘And I think United should sack him or move him on by giving him a free transfer. At the moment, they’re trying to build something that is not trying to win the Premier League or the Champions League right now.
‘The manager will want to push for those honours in the next two or three years and Ronaldo is not going to be around.
‘He is going to be a distraction, this will not go away. As soon as a player comes out and says he doesn’t respect the manager, how is that going to work when he walks into the first day of the post-World Cup season?
‘It can’t work that going forward – there will be people taking pictures, we will be asking about Ronaldo to the manager in interviews for Sky. United don’t need the hassle.’