Cristiano Ronaldo is set to sue Serie A giant Juventus for an outstanding £17million after his Manchester United exit.
Ronaldo lost £16million at Old Trafford after he agreed to a mutual contract termination by Manchester United.
Man United opted to terminate his contract after his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan, which angered the club’s hierarchy, including new manager Erik Ten Hag.
While Cristiano Ronaldo had traveled to Qatar with Portugal’s World Cup squad, Erik Ten Hag reportedly postponed his scheduled family holiday and summoned Manchester United’s hierarchy, demanding that he does not want Cristiano Ronaldo to play for the club again.
Recall that the five times Ballon d’Or winner had said he had no respect for Erik Ten Hag and slammed the club owners for poor handling of the club, which has resulted in deteriorating facilities and equipment.
Ronaldo timed his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan. Immediately after the interview, he had the World Cup tournament on his table, which would buy him time away from the club.
Hence, he anticipated the outcome. After the interview, workmen were spotted in Old Trafford taking down the giant mural bearing his picture at the club.
This was followed by a club statement that the club had started a process as a reaction to the interview. While the club failed to disclose the process, saying they will not comment further until the conclusion is reached, FutballNews understood that the Old Trafford club was embarking on a contract termination procedure to end the contract of Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was not long before the club came out with the decision to terminate Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract.
Ronaldo joined Manchester United from Juventus in 2021, signing a two-year contract which was to expire at the end of the current 2022/23 Premier League season.
It was remaining seven months to the completion of the contract, and Manchester United would have forked out £16million for the wantaway forward.
Ronaldo had to part ways with the club following the contract termination and lost the £16million payment that would have accrued in the remaining seven months of his deal.
Following his ordeal with the 13 times Premier League Champions, Ronaldo has reportedly demanded Juventus to pay him an outstanding £17m and has consulted his lawyers to that effect.
According to Gazzetta dello Sports, Ronaldo is demanding payment for an agreement that was struck during the Covid pandemic but was not made public.
The deal is said to have not been reported in the stock market or the club’s balance sheet.
FutballNews had earlier reported that Juventus were under investigation for secretly striking a deal with Cristiano Ronaldo during the 2019 Covid Pandemic and falsifying financial documents.
While Juventus denied wrongdoing or improper conduct, Ronaldo refused to comment on the incident when contacted.
Meanwhile, Juventus claimed they had been vindicated and cleared by the Italian court; hence the media blitz and noses to reawaken the indictments were not necessary and irrelevant.
As things stand, it is pretty clear that Juventus may be facing difficult moments right now. Recently, the entire board of Juventus resigned; president Andrea Agnelli, vice-president Pavel Nedved and managing director Maurizio Arrivabene were among a glut of high-ranking Juve board members to walk away from their positions.
It has been suggested that the mass resignations were linked to the board’s involvement in the Prisma investigation, which is being looked into by the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation involved 15 people at Juventus and relates to alleged false accounting and market manipulation.
While the club’s hierarchy continues denying any wrongdoing after examining the club’s financial documents, Ronaldo’s demand and the mass resignations are projecting the club negatively in the media. It appears they may be sweeping things under the carpet with the Ronaldo saga.
After winning nine successive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2020, Juve has finished fourth in the past few campaigns. They have not made it past the round of 16 in the last three editions of the Champions League. They are currently third in the Italian top flight, behind Napoli and AC Milan, and were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages in October.
Ronaldo’s demand comes as Saudi club Al Hilal have submitted a transfer proposal to the striker to rival an earlier bid made by their domestic rivals Al Nassr.
