The week in football started hot with an interview with Cristiano Ronaldo on a talk show. The published excerpts were enough to shake the life of the athlete and Manchester United, where he plays as a striker. Ronaldo has been critical of the club’s top brass, including owners and manager Erik ten Hag.
The star made harsh accusations against the Glazer family, owners of Manchester United, accusing them of not being committed to the professional issue of the club, focusing only on marketing to the detriment of football. He also stated that they were not committed to bringing the club up to par with other English giants such as Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal.
The Portuguese still added that in this way, United will have difficulties to be among the best in the world in the period of the next two or three years and claims to say this with great regret, since he commented that he returned to the club with the love that feels like one of the reasons.
The criticisms don’t stop
He mentioned during the interview that the training center has not received updates since 2009, the year he left the club to play for Real Madrid. He felt betrayed as the team planned to trade him next season. Manchester United will investigate the allegations, but inside sources confirm the anger of everyone at the club against him. As a result, a fine of 1 million pounds (6.3 million reais at current exchange rates) was immediately applied.
The controversy spread to social media, leading to the removal of Cristiano Ronaldo from the squad’s WhatsApp group. All this further increased the rumors about his departure in January, right after the World Cup.
The tension and temper is even worse under coach Erik ten Hag and it all started during the last offseason. At the time, Cristiano refused to enter the field with a few minutes left for the match against Tottenham to end. In the same situation, he left the team before the final whistle. After this, ten Hag suspended his training with the starting line-up and made him ineligible against the next match against Chelsea.
Cristiano’s contract with the club expires in July 2023, but sources suggest the controversial interview was used to end him in January. United said they were willing to let the player leave in July but that so far it does not allow renegotiating a breach of contract.