The biographer of Erik ten Hag is convinced the Manchester United manager was "sincere" in wanting to work with Cristiano Ronaldo this season.
The pair appeared to have endured a tense relationship at United before Ronaldo's contract was terminated ahead of the World Cup after an interview with Piers Morgan where he criticised the club and Ten Hag.
Before then, Ronaldo had skipped United's preseason tour of Thailand and Australia, a decision which led to Ten Hag benching the striker for much of the first-half of the season.
For Maarten Meijer, who saw his book, 'Ten Hag: The Biograpy', released before Christmas, Ten Hag tried everything to involve Ronaldo in his team planning.
Meijer told Tribalfootball.com: "I think that he was sincere. I think he was not being disingenuous, I thought he was really prepared to work with him. He did not want to get rid of such a fantastic player.
"I think he wanted to work with him and then somehow when they started to build some steam, it just didn't work out because yeah, we saw it happen as Ronaldo found it too demanding and he couldn't fit in the system that they wanted to play and then this whole debacle (the interview) happened."
Ronaldo has now moved onto Al Nassr of the Saudi Pro League and Meijer also discussed how in his book he notes there was tension between Ronaldo and captain Harry Maguire.
On how Ten Hag managed the dressing room at the time, Meijer continued: "He's extremely protective of what's really going on within his team and so forth, he's not going to speak about detail so unless somebody really blows the whistle and says 'oh my gosh we hear this or that', but nobody really did so, there was just some rumblings going on that these guys didn't see eye to eye with each other so I kind of picked up on that."
It's since been revealed by United Treble winner Dwight Yorke that one of issues Ronaldo had under Ten Hag was the captaincy. Yorke stating he had spoken to Ronaldo last year and the Portuguese great had wanted a greater leadership role inside the club.
Watch below for more from Maarten Meijer:
Maarten Meijer's definitive biography follows Erik ten Hag, from his upbringing in the Dutch countryside to his domestic triumphs and European victories. Meijer's book is the ultimate guide to the man with the momentous task of ending a decade of disappointment at Manchester United and beginning a new era of winning football at the club. Get your copy today from Amazon.
