Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese superstar who recently made headlines for his explosive interview, made Instagram history on November 21 when he became the first sportsperson to reach 500 million followers. Ronaldo, one of the world’s most popular athletes, reached the milestone on Monday.
Ronaldo is also one of Instagram’s highest-paid athletes. Ronaldo is extremely popular on other social media platforms besides Instagram. He has over 105 million Twitter followers and over 154 million Facebook fans. After Ronaldo, other athletes with large Instagram fan bases include Lionel Messi, Virat Kohli, Neymar, and LeBron James.
Ronaldo previously stated in an explosive interview that he feels “betrayed” by the club for attempting to force him out of the team. The Portuguese star also stated in his interview that he has “no respect” for Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag because he “doesn’t show respect for me.”
Ronaldo, who will rejoin United in August 2021 after finishing as the club’s top scorer in all competitions with 24 goals last season, stated, “I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me. If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never gonna have respect for you.”
In response to Ronaldo’s interview, Manchester United stated that they have begun “appropriate steps.”
“Manchester United has this morning initiated appropriate steps in response to Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent media interview. We will not be making further comments until this process reaches its conclusion,” the club said.