MANCHESTER UNITED PREPARE TO TERMINATE CRISTIANO RONALDO CONTRACT AFTER PIERS MORGAN INTERVIEW
Manchester United are preparing to take legal action against Cristiano Ronaldo and seek to terminate his contract after his comments on Piers Morgan Uncensored this week. The club has reportedly also told Ronaldo not to return to their Carrington training ground after the World Cup. As per Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth, there is “close to zero chance that Cristiano Ronaldo will play for Manchester United again.”
In an explosive, unsanctioned interview by The Sun’s Piers Morgan, five-time Ballon D’or winner Cristiano Ronaldo criticized the club’s lack of progress, lack of facility improvement at Carrington and Old Trafford, former teammate and club legend Wayne Rooney and said he “did not respect” new manager Erik Ten Hag. This comes in the middle of a frustrating season for the 37-year-old in which he has started only 4 Premier League games, coming on as a substitute in six other games and scoring just once. Ronaldo has not played for Manchester United since the team’s 3-1 defeat at home to Aston Villa on the 6th of this month.
Manchester United said after snippets of the interview were released earlier in the week that they would comment after “full facts had been established” and the club released a club statement on Friday morning following the airing of the last half of Ronaldo’s interview on Thursday. The statement read: “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.”
The “process” alluded to in the club’s statement is apparently the termination of the Portuguese international’s contract with the club. It’s reported that United have taken the first necessary steps towards sacking Ronaldo without paying him a single penny as the club’s lawyers remain confident he breached the terms of his contract by appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
While there were always concerns that Manchester United would have to pay Ronaldo an amount close to £16 million, the amount he would have earned up to the end of his current contract, it’s understood that is no longer the case. The club is confident they can get the three-time Premier League winner out without paying compensation or ‘rewarding disloyalty.’
United are also confident Ronaldo has disobeyed the Premier League employment contract signed by all top-flight players to play in the competition. Under its clauses, players must “comply with and act in accordance with all lawful instructions of any authorized official of the club” and are not permitted to “write or say anything which is likely to bring the club into disrepute or cause damage to the club.”
Ronaldo described in the first half of his interview his shock at the stagnation of the club since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013, taking a dig at United’s top hierarchy. “Since Sir Alex left, I saw no evolution in the club. Nothing had changed. He [Ferguson] knows better than anybody that the club is not on the path they deserve to be. He knows. Everyone knows.”
“The people who don’t see that, it’s because they don’t want to see. They are blind. I think the fans should know the truth. I want the best for the club. This is why I come to Manchester United. But you have some things inside [the club] that don’t help [us] reach the top level as City, Liverpool, and even now Arsenal. A club with this dimension should be top of the tree in my opinion and they are not, unfortunately.”
As per The Daily Mail’s Chris Wheeler, the hierarchy at Manchester United including The Glazers, Richard Arnold, John Murtough, and Ten Hag met on Monday this week and “decided that Cristiano Ronaldo has burnt bridges” at United and there is “no way back for him at the club.”
The five-time Champions League winner said it will require drastic changes to make United title challengers again – including him leaving the club. “You have to destroy it to rebuild it and if they start with me, for me, it’s not a problem,” Ronaldo said. “I love Manchester United. I love the fans. They’re always on my side. But if they want to do anything different, they have to change many, many things.”
While most people feel his opinions on the progress at the club are warranted, his remarks on manager Erik Ten Hag may just have doomed any possible future he had at the club. “I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me,” Ronaldo told Piers Morgan. “If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never going to have respect for you.”
The Madeira-born forward refused to come on during United’s 2-0 home win against Tottenham last month, stormed down the tunnel, and left the stadium before the game was over. Ronaldo also left United’s 1-1 preseason draw with Rayo Vallecano in July before the game ended. Ronaldo said during the interview, however, that he regrets leaving [Tottenham game] but in the same way he “felt provoked by the coach [Erik Ten Hag].” He said, “Not allowed for me, a coach to put me in three minutes in a game. Sorry. I’m not that kind of a player.”
“Okay, you don’t want to put me on against Manchester City because of respect of my career,” Ronaldo went on. “But then you want to put me three minutes against Tottenham. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Ronaldo also hit back at former United teammate Wayne Rooney who has previously publicly urged the club to let him go. “I don’t know why he criticizes me so badly,” Ronaldo said. “Probably because he finished his career and I’m still playing at a high level. I’m not saying that I’m looking better than him. Which is true…”
Ronaldo is set to captain Portugal during the World Cup in Qatar and will be intent on using the world stage as a platform to showcase his skills and abilities for the entire planet to see. While the next few weeks will be interesting regarding what Manchester United do regarding the 37-year-old forward, one can’t help but think Ronaldo’s suitors will be watching his performances at the World Cup closely and determining if he still has magic in those legs.
Ronaldo will play for the first time since his Piers Morgan interview on Thursday 11 pm ET when Portugal take on Ghana in the opening round of matches at the World Cup in Qatar.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Oleg Dubyna. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.