By Dipo Olowookere
The Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo, will leave Manchester United immediately by mutual agreement, the club confirmed in a statement on Tuesday.
Ronaldo incurred the wrath of the English top-flight football club after he granted an interview with a British journalist, Mr Piers Morgan, shortly before he travelled to Portugal in preparation for the ongoing FIFA World Cup hosted by Qatar.
In the controversial interview aired last Wednesday and Thursday, the former World Footballer of the Year expressed his frustration at the way the football outfit is run by the owners.
He also lambasted the calibre of coaches the club employed, especially the immediate interim manager, Mr Ralf Rangnick, who he said was not a football coach but a football director.
Before the interview aired, the club said it would look into the matter after snippets of the interview were posted on the internet.
Today, the club issued a statement and said Ronaldo is no longer a player of Manchester United.
He returned to the club last summer after he earlier left in 2009 for Real Madrid, where he left in 2018 for Juventus after making 292 appearances and scoring 311 goals. In Italy, he played 98 matches and scored 81 goals until his return to England.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is to leave Manchester United by mutual agreement, with immediate effect,” a part of the statement, which thanked the footballer “for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford,” said.
The captain of the Portugues national team made 346 appearances and scored 145 goals in his two spells at the Theatre of Dreams.
Manchester United, which wished Ronaldo and “his family well for the future,” also said it “remains focused on continuing the team’s progress under Erik ten Hag and working together to deliver success on the pitch.”