Roy Keane names the clause Cristiano Ronaldo should have included in Manchester United contract

Roy Keane cannot understand why a clause was not placed in Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United contract when he returned last summer.

A year on from heading back to Old Trafford and the five-time Ballon d'Or winner told the club he wants to leave following the failure to qualify for this season's Champions League.

Despite Ronaldo's 18 goals in the Premier League, United finished the 2021/22 campaign in sixth place with their lowest ever points tally.

Now 37 and approaching the end of his career, Ronaldo wants to be playing in the Europe's premier competition, where he is the record goalscorer with 141 goals.

But despite being offered to the likes of Atletico Madrid and Chelsea, it doesn't appear as though any club will take on the Portugal superstar.

Image: Alamy

And former United skipper Keane, who played with Ronaldo during his first spell at the Red Devils, is surprised a break clause was not inserted into his deal by Jorge Mendes.

"A lot of the issue is Ronaldo not playing in the Champions League for his ego, 'brand' or whatever," Keane said on Sky Sports' Premier League preview.

"Why did his agent not have (a clause) if Manchester United didn't get in the Champions League there's an option for both parties to have a look at it?

"If you've got this 'super-agent' who has got unbelievable contacts and is brilliant in terms of negotiations - why doesn't he have that in Ronaldo's contract?"

Having missed the pre-season tour, Ronaldo did eventually return to training and started the pre-season friendly loss to Rayo Vallecano, though he angered manager Erik ten Hag by leaving at half-time without permission.

He found himself on the bench for the first game of the season against Brighton, coming on early in the second half as Ten Hag started his tenure with a 2-1 defeat.

Image: Alamy

United's all-time goalscorer Wayne Rooney has said his former club should let Ronaldo leave but Keane does not hold the same opinion.

He believes United cannot let him leave without a replacement, brutally putting down striker Anthony Martial and saying the Frenchman "isn't the answer" prior to the Brighton loss.

Topics: Manchester United, Roy Keane, Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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