Manchester United

Manchester United initiate "appropriate steps" in response to Ronaldo interview

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 18 November 2022

Manchester United announce that they have initiated "appropriate steps" in response to Cristiano Ronaldo's explosive TalkTV interview with Piers Morgan.

Manchester United have announced that they have initiated "appropriate steps" in response to Cristiano Ronaldo's explosive interview with Piers Morgan.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner's interview was aired in full on TalkTV across Wednesday and Thursday evening, during which he criticised various elements of the club.

Ronaldo claimed that he felt he was being pushed out of the club and was left "betrayed" by Old Trafford chiefs, while also admitting that he holds no respect for Erik ten Hag.

The Portugal international also hit out at the Glazer Family and claimed that the Red Devils have made 'zero progress' since he left to join Real Madrid in 2009.

Ralf Rangnick, Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney were also targets of Ronaldo's scathing attacks, which rocked the footballing world and have seemingly spelled the end of his second stint with Man United.

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo during training on November 14, 2022 © Reuters

Following the release of the first snippets of the interview, Man United announced that they would take further action once the full facts had been established.

Now, the 20-time English champions have said "appropriate steps" will be taken in the wake of the interview, and no further statements will be made before a conclusion is reached.

"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," a statement on manutd.com read.

Ronaldo is currently away with the Portugal squad preparing for the 2022 World Cup, but there is a general expectation that he has played his final game in a Man United shirt.

Ten Hag has supposedly told Man United chiefs that the 37-year-old should never play for the club again, but he has only been a peripheral figure under the Dutchman this season anyway.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo with manager Erik ten Hag before coming on as a substitute on August 22, 2022 © Reuters

Ronaldo has three goals and two assists to his name from 16 games for the Red Devils this term and is out of contract in the summer, but United do possess the option to trigger an extension until 2024.

During part of his interview with Morgan, Ronaldo admitted that he did not know if he would return to Old Trafford after the World Cup, saying: "It's difficult to tell right now, because my mood is, right now, [focused on] the World Cup. It's probably my last World Cup, of course, my fifth World Cup.

"I don't know what's going to happen after the World Cup, but as I told you before, and I will say again, the fans will always be in my heart. And I hope they will be by my side, even if I [come] back, or if I'm not back, or if I stay or whatever.

"But I don't know, it's hard to tell right now what's going to happen after the World Cup because my focus is for the World Cup, for the Portugal national team."

Ronaldo also revealed that he turned down a lucrative offer from an unnamed Saudi Arabian club over the summer, and he now boasts a total of 145 goals and 64 assists in 346 outings for Man United in all tournaments.

The former Real Madrid and Juventus man was absent from Portugal's 4-0 friendly win over Nigeria on Thursday but will expect to return when the Selecao face Ghana in their opening game of World Cup Group H next Thursday.