Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United in early November after his unpleasant contract termination with the club. The veteran forward’s explosive interview with Piers Morgan was the tipping point where he slammed the club for various issues and also criticised manager Erik ten Hag of “disrespecting” him. It was surely over then for Ronaldo, who had only started 4 of United 14 league games, which was one of the reasons he went berserk against them.
However, it seems the club hasn’t completely forgotten the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. United ended a roller coaster 2022 year with a win away to Wolves in the Premier League. Marcus Rashford was on target for the Red Devils coming-off the bench, netting the sole strike of the game. Into the new year, jumping into the top-four, United still seemed to miss Ronaldo, who bizarrely made it to the cover of their 2023 calendar.
Cristiano Ronaldo off to Saudi, but still on United calendar
Cristiano Ronaldo departed United on a bad note after a longstanding tiff with the club which was more than the interview. New manager in, Ten Hag wanted young legs in his system and hence had to sacrifice a 37-year-old Ronaldo and demote him to the bench. This added to the frustration of the forward who was already irked about the fact the club was missing from Champions League.
Irritated with his constant benching, Ronaldo finally let out his anger and lashed out at the club in the interview. As the outcome was imminent, United terminated his contract days before he kickstarted Portugal’s World Cup campaign in Qatar. Ronaldo then endured a devastating World Cup with Portugal, where he managed just one goal and had a fallout with manager Fernando Santos before getting benched in the last 16 and quarterfinal games.
Morocco then piled up misery on the Portugal captain and his team by knocking them out in the quarterfinals. The former Real Madrid forward returned as a free agent and quickly put his agent Jorge Mendes to work to find him a new club. And Ronaldo finally inked a bumper contract with Saudi side Al Nassr, which will see him earn a staggering €200 million per-year for the next two-and-a-half-years.
May your new year get off to a better start than whoever put together the official 2023 Manchester United calendar pic.twitter.com/aJcLKkayAw
— Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) January 1, 2023
However, in an epic blunder, Cristiano Ronaldo still made it to the cover of Manchester United’s calendar for the month of January 2023. The Red Devils never fell short of amusing the fans with their gaffes, and this was just another of them. However, Ronaldo still has left a starring legacy behind at Old Trafford having scored a benchmark 145 goals in 346 games for the club across his two spells.
The Champions League all-time top scorer also helped the Red Devils to three Premier League titles, two Carabao Cups, a Champions League, Club World Cup and a FA Cup. However, the ending was not the one he would have wanted at Old Trafford, with his last game being a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League. Nonetheless, Ronaldo has now bagged the most expensive contract in the history of any sport with Al Nassr and is set to pocket a total package of €500 million.