Cristiano Ronaldo was asked to leave Old Trafford after giving the explosive interview against the Red Devils' upper echelons, according to Premier League powerhouse Manchester United, who officially announced the Portuguese captain's exit on Tuesday. According to a statement released by Manchester United, Ronaldo will leave the club by mutual consent and with immediate effect. The 37-year-old issued his statement, which read:
Following conversations with Manchester United, we have mutually agreed to end our contract early.
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.
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Cristiano Ronaldo: An Example for Every Aspiring Footballer
JANUARY 25, 2012
While the bar has been raised every season by the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and company, one player that has been able to keep up is the Portuguese captain, Cristiano.
Criticized for his lack of team effort, for his arrogance and gloating, the former Manchester United man has every reason to be proud of his achievements.
While he struggles to shrug off the mighty Argentinian to the throne of World Footballer of the year, having come second for the past three years and once wearing the crown himself not so long ago, Ronaldo has been praised by his peers for his professionalism on and off the pitch.
In today's age, where so much of what happens outside of football characterizes a footballer, a player with so much influence away from the pitch has remained true to himself once he steps onto the field. Cristiano was knocked down by his father’s comments and overwhelmed with memories of growing up with an alcoholic father who died when Cristiano was 20. He regretted they never really had a proper conversation, he explained, and that his father didn’t live long enough to see Cristiano rise to fame or share in the joy of his awards. “My father, he saw nothing. He died young. But it is what it is,” Cristiano said, wiping away tears.
Arguably the greatest footballer on earth (his rivalry with Lionel Messi is the stuff of legend), Cristiano still wonders if his success was due to his father watching over him from heaven. While his home life was far from perfect, it was José Aveiro who introduced Cristiano to football - known as soccer in America - and guided him to become the man he is today. Cristiano Ronaldo is not just competitive and driven, but also anxious to improve the world for the sake of his own children and those he touches
United’s win against Spurs on Wednesday night, the product of probably the finest performance yet in ten Hag’s nascent reign, provided a compelling illustration as to why. Without Ronaldo, United is stirring. There is an energy, a zest, in its performance, a sense of disparate parts gradually binding into a distinct unit, the early, emergent signs of a genuine style of play.
And yet such is Ronaldo’s fame, his draw, his magnetism that even now his absence defines things as surely as his presence. His exclusion from the field is a talking point. The camera pans to him, seeking to discern his mood, his state of mind, as soon as the opportunity arises. The fans, mindful of what he was, unconcerned by what he might be, sing his name as he trots down the touchline to stretch his muscles
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