Erik ten Hag has told his Manchester United bosses that Cristiano Ronaldo should not play for the club again following an explosive interview that left senior players at Old Trafford ‘furious’.
In a bombshell interview with TV presenter Piers Morgan, Ronaldo said he felt ‘betrayed’ by the club and did not respect Ten Hag, who joined from Ajax last summer.
On Monday, Manchester United issued a statement saying they would seek the ‘full facts’ before deciding what to do with Ronaldo, who returned to Old Trafford in the summer of 2021.
United are set to dock Ronaldo two weeks’ wages but Ten Hag wants to go further and has urged his bosses to get him out of the club, according to ESPN.
Ten Hag was forced to punish Ronaldo last month after he refused to come on during a Premier League match and then left the stadium early.
But the five-time Ballon d’Or winner had been reintegrated into the first-team squad before he decided to give a sensational interview to Morgan.
Ronaldo, who scored 24 goals in 38 appearances last season, also hit out at the facilities at Manchester United’s training ground, slammed former caretaker manager Ralf Rangnick and took swipes at Old Trafford legends Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville.
ESPN say a number of senior United players are ‘furious’ at the timing of Ronaldo’s outburst, which was made public just a few hours after a morale-boosting 2-1 win at Fulham.
Ten Hag has already discussed the situation with co-chairman Joel Glazer, chief executive Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough, with more talks set to take place today.
It is claimed the Dutch manager is happy to part ways with Ronaldo even if United do not sign a replacement during the January transfer window.
Ronaldo has started just four of Manchester United’s 14 Premier League games this season and has ‘no chance’ of returning to the side, according to former striker Teddy Sheringham.
‘No chance. absolutely no chance. He cannot play for Manchester United again, not after this and it sounds like there’s more to come,’ Sheringham told talkSPORT.
‘You cannot attack your football club and expect everything to be hunky dory next week when you come back from the World Cup, absolutely no chance.’
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand also believes Ronaldo’s time at Old Trafford is coming to an end, telling Vibe with Five: ‘I’m quite clear with this situation. It’s over. That love affair with Manchester United is finished. The book has been closed.
He’s snookered the club and put them into a position where there’s no way back. Whether anyone at the club wanted to keep Ronaldo, they can’t now after what he’s said.
‘If that interview was two minutes long and not an hour or two, and he said that comment there, that ‘I don’t respect the manager’, regardless of everything else he’s said that is going to be the reason why he goes.’
United go into the mid-season break for the World Cup sitting fifth in the Premier League, three points outside the Champions League places.
