… immediately, by mutual consent
Nearly all media sources report online that Ronaldo leaves Man Utd: the club issued a statement this Tuesday evening announcing they had reached a mutual agreement with Cristiano Ronaldo to terminate his contract; Ronaldo added: “I love Manchester United and I love the fans, that will never ever change”
MUFC issued a statement saying that “the club thanks him for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford, scoring 145 goals in 346 appearances, and wishes him and his family well for the future”.
The Guardian reports in more detail this afternoon as Ronaldo leaves Man Utd: “Following conversations with Manchester United we have mutually agreed to end our contract early,” Ronaldo said. “I love Manchester United and I love the fans, that will never ever change. However, it feels like the right time for me to seek a new challenge. I wish the team every success for the remainder of the season and for the future.”
It is understood Ronaldo will not receive a pay-off from the club. Manchester United said:
“Cristiano Ronaldo is to leave Manchester United by mutual agreement, with immediate effect. The club thanks him for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford, scoring 145 goals in 346 appearances, and wishes him and his family well for the future. Everyone at Manchester United remains focused on continuing the team’s progress under Erik ten Hag and working together to deliver success on the pitch”
The Times later confirmed that Ronaldo is leaving Man Utd without receiving any compensation after the two parties agreed to rip up his contract. The Premier League may not have seen the last of the 37-year-old Portuguese, however, as United have not included a clause in his settlement that forbids him from joining another English club. “United announced this evening that they had come to a “mutual agreement” with Ronaldo to terminate their star forward’s contract, which was due to expire at the end of June next year”.
In ripping up the player’s contract, United have saved themselves about £15.5 million in wages. It is understood that United did not give Ronaldo a payoff because they were convinced that they could argue in court that the Portuguese was guilty of a breach of contract for three reasons.
First, he brought the club into disrepute with his comments in an interview with Piers Morgan. Second, the interview was unauthorised by the club, which is again forbidden. And finally, their lawyers were ready to argue that the forward breached his contract by refusing to come off the bench in the final three minutes of United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur last month.
COVID-19 in Madeira: updates can be found in an earlier post
All the incidental from Madeira – up to 60 reports per day – is being picked up automatically, translated, and posted on our sister website, madeiraislandnews, no matter how trivial:
I still reckon he will go to the USA after the world cup.
Nobody has ever been bigger than the club,.
I’ve always thought that the manager sending Ronaldo on for the final three minutes of the game was intended to provoke him.
It clearly succeeded in that desire when Ronaldo refused to come on. However he’s already been fined what to most people would be a considerable amount for that refusal so I doubt if in law that would be a valid reason for his dismissal as the matter has already been dealt with by the club.
Saying he didn’t have permission to give an interview is nonsense too – however the comments made in the interview *might* have been enough to justify dismissal but I doubt they would have been enough to justify a no-compensation dismissal.
Instead, he wants out and Mendes probably thinks he can quickly get a deal that gets Ronaldo playing time in a happier environment and which covers some (most?) of those lost wages (peanuts compared to his advertising money?)
They were interviewing a Saudi this morning who said it’s 80% likely he’ll go there. Apparently that’s where he wants to go.
To me it’s just one big 🥱!