- As the Portugal striker Ronaldo will miss W’Cup friendly against Nigeria
Manchester United have started taking action against Cristiano Ronaldo over his explosive interview with Piers Morgan, in which he blasted several aspects of the club.
Workers have been spotted tearing a large poster featuring Ronaldo from the side of Old Trafford, stirring transfer speculation further.
The 37-year-old has made an aggressive play to leave United by joining ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’ to unleash his pent-up fury on the club.
He claimed the Glazer family ‘didn’t care’ about sporting success, admitted he ‘didn’t respect’ manager Erik ten Hag and slated the lack of ‘evolution’ since his exit in 2008 as part of the 90-minute interview.
On Monday, a club statement read: “Manchester United note the media coverage regarding an interview by Cristiano Ronaldo. The club will consider its response after the full facts have been established. Our focus remains on preparing for the second half of the season and continuing the momentum, belief and togetherness being built among the players, manager, staff, and fans.”
And now the Red Devils have apparently started taking action on the Portugal international by removing him from plain sight at Old Trafford. Ronaldo was featured in an Adidas poster to advertise the new home kit, but workers were seen ripping that from the stadium walls on Wednesday afternoon.
In another development, the Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo is suffering from a stomach bug and will be left out of the team’s World Cup warm-up friendly against Nigeria on Thursday, according to his coach Fernando Santos.
Ronaldo gave an explosive interview to Piers Morgan’s show on TalkTV this week in which he criticised Manchester United and said he had no respect for the coach Erik ten Hag, who has not relied on him much this season.
The striker, 37, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, will not train on Wednesday because of the illness, which has started amid the controversy caused by his interview.
“He is suffering from gastroenteritis and will not train today for this reason,” Santos told a press conference in Lisbon.
“He won’t be ready (to face Nigeria), he’s resting, as you know, gastritis takes a lot out of players.”
The coach said Ronaldo’s interview was not sanctioned by Portugal but did not need to be either, and that it had nothing to do with the national team.
Once recovered, Ronaldo is set to feature in his fifth and potentially final World Cup, with Portugal opening their campaign against Ghana on November 24, before games against Uruguay and South Korea.
The talismanic striker and his country have never won the competition but did triumph at Euro 2016 and won the Nations League in 2019.
Credit: Express Sport and AFP
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