Fergie has compared the 24-year-old to the likes of George Best, Johann Cruyff, Diego Maradona and Pele.
He said: “All the great players have a touch of ‘nice arrogance’ — a belief in themselves.
“That is a vein that courses through all the great players and they get treatment from defenders.
“Best got it and if you remember the tackles the Brazilians gave Cruyff in the 1974 World Cup…
“I don’t see why I should restrain Cristiano. I enjoy watching it — I paid over £10million for it.
“When a player expresses himself in such an entertaining way defenders don’t enjoy it.
“What Arsene said is sometimes it appears as arrogance and that’s different. I can understand what he’s saying.”
