Bruno Fernandes Breaks Silence On Alleged Tense Handshake With Ronaldo

Manchester United midfielder, Bruno Fernandes has downplayed rumors of a falling out with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo and Fernandes are teammates for Portugal and Manchester United, respectively.

On Monday, footage emerged of Fernandes joining up with his Portugal teammates 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 teammates – doing so in a far more cheery manner.

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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.

‘I was in the locker room at that moment,’ Mario said. ‘I saw pictures. It was a joke between them. Bruno Fernandes was one of the last to arrive. Cristiano asked: ‘Did you come by boat?’”

Fernandes has now appeared to corroborate Mario’s comments, writing on social media: ‘Oh Joao Mario, there you are ruining the newspaper headlines, with a facepalm and laughing emoji.

While Fernandes has attempted to downplay his eyebrow-raising greeting with Ronaldo, a number of Manchester United players are said to be ‘furious’ at the timing of Ronaldo’s interview with Morgan.

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The first clips were aired on Sunday night, just a few hours after Manchester United scored an injury-time winner to beat Fulham at Craven Cottage.