Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo has personally spoken to the mother of a child whose phone was broken after an incident at Goodison Park last April

Cristiano Ronaldo discussed his “terrible upbringing” with the mother of an autistic child, who was left with a bruised hand after the Manchester United star slapped a phone out of his hand.

The Portuguese forward landed himself in hot water after last season’s 1-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park. As he walked off the pitch he smashed 14-year-old Jacob’s phone out of his hand in frustration and has since been handed a caution for his actions.

Ronaldo has personally phoned Sarah Kelly, Jacob’s mother, in an attempt to smooth out the situation, while also making it clear he will fight any legal battle she chooses to pick. The 37-year-old, who has received some harsh criticism since returning to Manchester for a second spell, lost his father as a child.

Cristiano Ronaldo stormed off after Man Utd’s loss at Everton

Jacob has his phone smashed out of his hand

That has served as a motivating factor throughout his career, but Kelly was left angered by Ronaldo’s inability to remember her name during their conversation. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, she said: “The phone rang again and a man said, ‘Hello this is Cristiano Ronaldo.’

Last week Ronaldo accepted the caution for assault and criminal damage. Sarah said he was ordered to pay £200 but believes the five-time Ballon d’Or winner “has got away with it”.

“He asked me if I would like to come down and meet his family. He said, ‘I’m not a bad dad.’ I said to him, ‘I never said you were a bad dad.’ He said, ‘I had a terrible upbringing, I lost my dad.’ I said to him, ‘Everybody has a sob story Ronaldo, I lost my dad young, I’ve had cancer.’

“He kept calling me Jack and didn’t even know my name and I said, ‘My name is Sarah’ and he said, ‘Oh, Sarah, I’m sorry.’”