Cristiano Ronaldo has torn Manchester United to shreds following his 90 minutes interview with British journalist, Piers Morgan, which was broadcasted in two nights.
In the bombshell interview, the Portuguese striker criticized the club and the owners and said he felt ‘betrayed’ by the way he was treated.
He also alleged that the owners (The Glazers) have not been investing in the club, claiming there has been zero progress in the club structurally since he earlier departed in 2013 to join Real Madrid. He said:
- “The Glazers, they don’t — they don’t care about (Sic), about the club. I mean, professional sport. As you know, Manchester is a marketing club. They will get their money from the marketing, the sport, it’s… they don’t care, in my opinion. The progress was zero. Since Sir Alex left, I saw no evolution in the club. Nothing had changed. A club with this dimension should be (at) top of the tree in my opinion and they are not, unfortunately.”
Club’s coach blamed: The Portuguese striker also expressed his lack of respect for the Manchester United coach, Erik Ten Hag. Ronaldo claimed the coach always blamed him for every problem, saying “the problem’s always me, it looks like I’m the black sheep.”
Manchester United’s response: Following the first part of the interview, Manchester United released a statement saying they will consider their response if ‘the full facts have been established. The club said:
- “Manchester United noted the media coverage regarding an interview by Cristiano Ronaldo. The club will consider its response after the full facts have been established. Our focus remains on preparing for the second half of the season and continuing the momentum, belief and togetherness being built among the players, manager, staff, and fans.”
Following the broadcast of the second part of the interview, Manchester United released a statement saying they have initiated steps in response to the bombshell interview. The 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 comments until this process reaches its conclusion.”
According to reports, the ‘appropriate steps’ mentioned by Manchester United is the termination of Ronaldo’s contract. The legal processes to this end have already begun towards the termination of his £500,000 per week contract.
Premier League employment agreement states that ‘all employees are obliged to “comply with and act in accordance with all lawful instructions of any authorised official of the club” and are not allowed to “write or say anything which is likely to bring the club… into disrepute… or cause damage to the club”.
It is up to Manchester United to determine to what extent the Portuguese striker has breached his contract.
The Portuguese striker is in Qatar with the Portuguese side for the 2022 World Cup and his fate is set to be decided during or after the World Cup as reports claim that he has been instructed to not resume with the club after the World Cup.
