Manchester United have appointed lawyers to sue Cristiano Ronaldo for alleged breach of contract after claims made by the forward in a recent interview, with the club seeking a swift resolution to the issue.
It means Ronaldo will almost certainly never play for United again and it is understood the 37-year-old has been instructed not to return to the club’s Carrington training base after his participation with Portugal in the World Cup in Qatar.
When speaking to Piers Morgan on Talk TV Ronaldo made a series of allegations about United. These included that he is being forced out by the club, that senior executives lacked empathy after his newborn son died in April, that the owners, the Glazer family, do not care about the club, and that the manager, Erik ten Hag, does not respect him.
On Friday a club statement said: “Manchester United has this morning initiated appropriate steps in response to Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent media interview. We will not be making further comment until this process reaches its conclusion.”
Ronaldo’s contract is worth about £500,000 a-week and expires in July. United had no prior knowledge of the interview given by Ronaldo, who wanted to leave in the summer. He is due to arrive in Doha on Friday at 11pm local time with the Portugal squadbefore the team’s first training session on Saturday afternoon.
Ronaldo is in his second spell at United after a supremely successful six years that ended in 2009 with his having won three Premier Leagues, the FA Cup, two League Cups, the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or. His individual contribution made him a hero for United fans and ranked him among the club’s greatest players.
Ronaldo’s return in summer 2021 was greeted ecstatically by supporters and hailed as a coup by Ten Hag’s predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjær. But in going public with his claims against United Ronaldo has seriously damaged this standing and status.
This followed his walking out before the end of the July friendly with Rayo Vallecano and October’s 2-0 league win over Tottenham. Despite this Ten Hag made Ronaldo captain for the 3-1 loss at Aston Villa on 6 November. It seems this will be his final appearance for the club.
XpainIMperious
346
Nowdays speaking truth can be dangerous
SIDKAUSH
279
Always the GOAT
FootballChief
181
Wait after the World Cup, the GOAT is focused right now.
ACE07
157
When you make such statements against your employer be ready for the consequences. it doesn't even matter whether you are right or wrong.
Gilbertgooner
121
Ronaldo will win more trophy than United
vamabceiln
118
Cr7 you will always have our support 👍
FootballChief
110
I won't think twice to choose Ronaldo over Man U. I began supporting Man U in 2002 and all the successes I know the club with coincided with Ronaldo. After Ronaldo left Man U declined. So, Ronaldo was a vital part of the recent Man United legacy. I
Toxin-Dc
85
All this Man U board and officials are not okay 👌 the guy did not on live he did not post anything against you he did not post anything against you he was interviewed and he answered all his questions he only answered questions so why are taking this too another level
ArsenalforeverRed
66
We are with you til end CR7 we know truth hurts
JustineEtuk
51
It’s about time...great player Ronaldo. But the way he goes about things is rather too childish... Some fans claim he Ronaldo is bigger than United and I’m like how? Combine Ronaldo and the greatest of all time “Messi” and Man United will still be bigger and both of them. I like Ronaldo as a player but I can’t stand nonsense or allow my sense of judgement to be clouded by sentiments... Since the beginning of pre season, Ronaldo has acted in a rather disrespectful manner... and his latest interview stresses this... I support ManU to deal with him which ever way possible You cannot castigate your employers publicly while you’re still contracted with them. That’s a bridge of contract.
IbrahimSunusi
9
Always the GOAT
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Rhema8561
8
After the press conference , many people agreed with Ronaldo on many things and many people criticized him for some things specially "I don't respect Ten Hag because He doesn't respect me" comment. Well, there is no doubt it could have been avoided specially when Erik have always been nice to Ronaldo on camera (which was fake obviously) Here is a long post where I will try to show to you people How Ten Hag has actually disrespected one of the Greatest player of the sport if not the greatest. During Pre Season, Erik and Utd told the fans that Ronaldo didn’t return due to personal issues, yet behind the scenes they were doubting him and questioning his assurance. Whilst all this was happening, Journalists followed Jorge Mendes’ movements and each club he went to was supposedly linked to Ronaldo when in fact he was doing his job which was to represent many others players that he works with too. Instead of confirming Ronaldo’s plan to stay, Utd made it known that he’s not for sale, making it look like he was wanting to leave. Ronaldo returns in the last match of pre season and Erik had mentioned how important he was for the project so instead of giving him a lot of minutes to maximise his fitness, he took him off at half time. Erik then went on to say that his fitness is not there which is why he will not be starting games ‘yet’. Ronaldo happily sat aside, cheered his team mates on and was brought on multiple times to basically kill time when the game was over. This happened for a number of games. Eventually, Erik tried to exploit Ronaldo’s cooperative behaviour by giving him even fewer minutes which happened a few times whilst telling the media how important he is to the project. In Ronaldo’s eyes, he was mocking him. So out of respect, Erik didn’t bring him on against City and due to immense respect Erik would have loved it if he would come on in the remaining minutes of the Tottenham match. The same team, he single handedly destroyed last season (THIS IS OBVIOUS SARCASM) Ronaldo regrets walking out but mentioned that his anger was justified as Erik was playing games. He said Erik told the press for months that he needs to get fit, adapt and ‘learn’, when others didn’t go through this process. You cannot learn by sitting on the bench. It is important to play in order to fit in, and he had an irregular run of games which makes it difficult for the player to fit in. Erik also mentioned if it wasn’t for injuries or absences of other players, Ronaldo wouldn’t start, which is something you don’t say as you never bring your players down. He also clearly stated how Ronaldo ruins the dynamism of the attack. As we can see, on multiple occasions, Erik called his player out, played games with him, said one thing and did the opposite, essentially set him up to fail so he couldn’t perform which is why Ronaldo did this interview. It's also important to note that this interview isn't about EtH vs Ronaldo Managers and big players fall out all the time E.g. Pep with Samuel Eto'o, Yaya Toure, Zlatan etc, Mourinho with Pogba and countless other players, SAF with Keane... So rather than focusing on something that's normal in football, focus on the important aspects of the interview – the fact that the most famous football player to ever live called out the Glazers. Cristiano went through the pain of losing his child which most of us cannot even understand, then He returned in Manchester United just to receive this treatment. Cristiano's only fault is He preferred his emotions and feelings over logic and joined this finished club over Manchester City. Ronaldo might not have many years left in him and which makes all this even more sad. Now, United will be sueing him and banned him from the club. I just hope all this drama can be finished ASAP and Cristiano can play his last few seasons with dignity and respect.