Manchester United have appointed lawyers to explore possible action against Cristiano Ronaldo for alleged breach of contract following claims made by the striker in a recent interview, as the club tries to plan his exit as soon as possible.
It means it is certain that Ronaldo will never play for United again and the 37-year-old is understood to have been instructed not to return to the club’s training base in Carrington following his involvement with Portugal in the Qatar World Cup.
With Ronaldo wanting to leave and United trying to get rid of him, the question is how his exit will play out. United’s position is that he should not receive any reward and would like to see the process completed as soon as possible. Ronaldo’s position is unclear, so the club are keeping all options on the table.
United’s strategy may be to hope that the threat of legal action will prompt Ronaldo to offer to void his contract. Speaking to Piers Morgan on Talk TV, Ronaldo made a series of allegations. These include him being kicked out by the club, senior executives lacking empathy after the death of his newborn son in April, the owners, the Glazer family, not caring about the club and manager Erik ten Hag , Yes. I don’t respect him.
‘I felt betrayed’: Cristiano Ronaldo claims he was kicked out of Manchester United – video
A club statement on Friday said: “Manchester United has this morning initiated the appropriate measures in response to Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent media interview. We will not comment further until this process has reached its conclusion.”
Ronaldo’s contract is worth around £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 at 11pm local time on Friday with the Portugal national team ahead of the team’s first training session on Saturday afternoon.
Ronaldo is in his second spell at United after a highly successful six-year spell that ended in 2009 with three Premier League wins, the FA Cup, two league titles, the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or. His individual contribution made him a hero to United fans and placed him among the best players at the club.
Ronaldo’s return in the summer of 2021 was ecstatically received by supporters and hailed as a coup by Ten Hag’s predecessor Ole Gunnar Solskjær. But by going public with his claims against United Ronaldo has seriously damaged that position and status.
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This followed his absence before the end of July’s friendly with Rayo Vallecano and October’s 2-0 league win over Tottenham. Despite this, Ten Hag made Ronaldo captain for the league match at Aston Villa on 6 November, which United lost 3–1. It looks like this will be his last appearance for the club.