Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville said that the English club should terminate Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract, after the recent statements made by the Portuguese.
In a resounding interview broadcast Sunday and Monday, Ronaldo said he felt “betrayed” by club officials and that he had “no respect for coach” Dutchman Erik Ten Hag, accusing them of wanting to oust him from the team.
The role of the “Don” in the “Red Devils” squad has declined since Ten Hag, who came from Ajax Amsterdam, took charge last May, and he was punished this season for refusing to enter as a substitute in a match.
But his latest attack went further as he also slammed the club’s owners, the American Glazer family, claiming they “don’t care” about the team’s sporting success.
“I don’t think he wants the way back,” club legend Neville said in an interview with Sky Sports. “He wouldn’t have done this interview if he wanted the way back.”
“He knew it was going to hit the headlines and it would be the end of his career with Manchester United,” said the former right-back, who won the league title eight times and the Champions League twice.
And there are about six months remaining in Ronaldo’s contract, who returned to United in the summer of 2021 from Italian Juventus, after he left him in 2009 for Spanish Real Madrid.
In his first period, he won the league title three times and the Champions League in 2008 when he won the Golden Ball award for the first time out of 5 in the same year.
However, the results upon his return were not what he wanted, as the team finished sixth last season, in which Ronaldo was the best scorer with 24 goals in all competitions, and thus failed to qualify for the Champions League.
According to media and close associates, he tried to leave Old Trafford during the summer for this reason.
Neville continued, “I wonder what Manchester United are doing because the truth is they know they have to terminate Cristiano’s contract or they open the door, in a precedent of its kind, so that any player can criticize them in the future.”
“I agree with some of the things Cristiano said, and many Manchester United fans will agree with many of the things he said. But the truth is if you are an employee of a company and you say these things, your employer has to terminate the contract and United have to do it in the next few days.” “.
United issued a statement on Monday saying, “The club will consider a response after confirming the full facts,” noting that a Ronaldo banner had already been removed from the Old Trafford facade.
Ronaldo will miss the friendly match for the Portuguese national team against Nigeria on Thursday in Lisbon in preparation for the Qatar World Cup, which starts on Sunday due to gastritis, knowing that the Portuguese national team will start its campaign against Ghana on the 24th of this month in Group H, which also includes Uruguay and South Korea.