Two Manchester United players have dispelled dressing room stories about Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United endured their worst Premier League campaign for decades last season and it was clear the dressing room was broken, while it was understood certain players in the dressing room were unsure about Harry Maguire's role as captain.

Maguire remained a regular starter throughout the season and some could not believe he had not been benched. There were also dressing room accusations about Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 24 goals last term, which made him the club's top goalscorer by some distance, with it being claimed that Ronaldo was a disruptive influence and that he was having a negative effect.

However, it seemed like Ronaldo might have been holding the dressing room together. He was talismanic on the pitch and his leadership was needed to prevent the standards, which were already low, from slipping further toward the abyss.

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Sources said Ronaldo implored the dressing room to show Ole Gunnar Solskjaer support when the writing was on the wall for the Norwegian, while it's understood he remained a key leader during Ralf Rangnick's reign, thwarting seeds of division.

That is not to say Ronaldo is perfect - he is flawed. There were incidents of Ronaldo walking straight down the tunnel after defeats and his reaction to being substituted in the win at Brentford in January was far from commendable behaviour, although some excused that reaction by sympathising with a five-time Ballon d'Or winner being reduced to public failure. It was not a good look regardless.

Although Rangnick admitted he did not blame Ronaldo for his reaction after that game, he suggested that he had been 'too emotional', but perhaps the dressing room would be a better place