The Cristiano Ronaldo soap opera has been tedious for quite some time, but hopefully, the end is near. Manchester United issued an official club statement today, and it reads: “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.”
Ok, so that says very little of insight, and thus, one is compelled to ask ‘what does that mean?’ Well according to multiple outlets, all across the world, citing their sources within the club- United are trying to terminate his contract. The club have reportedly been analyzing the legal advice they have received, since Monday when portions of Ronaldo’s interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV were promoted on Sunday night.
United were infuriated when Ronaldo said the club has made “zero progress” since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, while also saying the Glazers “don’t care” about it. CR7 also called the entity “a marketing club” and he said that he “doesn’t respect” his own manager Erik ten Hag.
MUFC are reportedly exploring their legal options so that they can tear up the Portugese superstar’s deal and not have to pay him the remaining salary that he is owed. In order to do that, the legal issue here is proving that Ronaldo is in breech of his contract. Beyond that, some reports claims, United may even file a lawsuit against Ronaldo.
It’s really very sad that it has come to this, such an ugly and bitter end to his second go around with the club. It just destroys his legacy.
Elsewhere NBC Sports, the Spanish language rights holder to the World Cup in America, via their Telemundo network, issued a World Cup individual player power rankings, and it has a very strong United presence. It’s 25 names long, and here you can see who made the cut.
11. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 15. Casemiro (Brazil) 24. Christian Eriksen (Denmark)
25. Raphael Varane (France)
It’s interesting how Ronaldo leads the way, despite his terrible form on the club level this season.
Also, two of the other three United players in the top 25, Casemiro and Raphael Varane (in case you missed it, earlier this week he said that yes, the Ronaldo drama does indeed affect the club- how could it not?), were teammates of Ronaldo at Real Madrid, in addition to United.
The love respect for United, from NBC, continues in their “Next men up” section. It lists the players who didn’t make the cut, and just missed as: Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Antony, Lisandro Martinez, William Saliba, Marquinhos, Thomas Muller, Memphis Depay, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan.
Wow, three of the next four are Red Devils, interesting. It really speaks to how much talent United truly have on their roster.
Paul M. Banks is the Owner/Manager of The Sports Bank and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly contributed to WGN News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.