Ronaldo interview: Next step for Man Utd looks to be ‘termination’ over ‘breach of contract’

Manchester United are reportedly exploring the possibility of ripping up Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract following his controversial interview with Piers Morgan.

Ronaldo went nuclear in an interview where he openly criticised the club’s infrastructure, manager Erik ten Hag, and the club’s hierarchy.

The Portugal captain said the Glazer family “don’t care” about the club and that nothing has changed from when he signed for the club back in 2004.

The 37-year-old also decided to have a go at former United teammates Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney after they condemned his conduct in recent months.

United appear to have no choice but to let Ronaldo leave the club in the winter transfer window.

The Premier League giants posted a vague statement earlier this week, saying: ‘Manchester United notes 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.’

And now the full interview has been released, the Red Devils shared another, very brief, statement on Friday.

‘Manchester United has this morning initiated appropriate steps in response to Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent media interview, it read.

‘We will not be making further comment until this process reaches its conclusion.’

The ‘appropriate steps’ United will take could be to cancel his contract, according to multiple reports.

None come more reliable than The Athletic, who have said this could be the club’s solution to the problem.

Should Ronaldo’s contract be ripped up, he will lose around £16million in wages.

Although money isn’t an issue for the Portuguese superstar, he and his team of lawyers will be sure to challenge this.

The report states that ‘United are considering taking legal action against Ronaldo for breach of contract’, which could see his contract canceled.

Ronaldo may well have breached the part of his contract which states players 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”.

The club will have grounds to terminate his deal if they believe he has breached his contract.

Ronaldo told Morgan he felt “betrayed” by the club and that he was being forced out.

He said: “Not only by the coach (Ten Hag), but also by two or three other people around the club.”

Ronaldo has stole the headlines many times despite not being on the pitch.

United had beaten Tottenham after a brilliant performance, however, all of the headlines after the match were about the Portugal captain, who refused to come off the bench and stormed down the tunnel before the full-time whistle.

Ronaldo also left a pre-season match against Rayo Vallecano during the second half, showing early on in Ten Hag’s tenure that the Dutch manager had his work cut out for him.

Fabrizio Romano has since confirmed that Ronaldo will be instructed not to turn up for training after the World Cup.

He wrote on Twitter: ‘It’s true that Manchester United are prepared to instruct Cristiano Ronaldo not to return to Carrington after World Cup, this is the plan as things stand.

‘This is one of the first steps after the interview — more will follow in the next days.’

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