Manchester United make Cristiano Ronaldo decision after Newcastle United ‘talks’

Ronaldo criticised Manchester United's owners in the interview, saying they ‘don’t care about the club' he felt ‘betrayed’ following his return last summer

And on Friday morning, Man United released an official statement which read: “Manchester United has this morning initiated appropriate steps in response to Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent media interview. We will not be making further comment until this process reaches its conclusion.”

The ‘appropriate steps’, according to Mail Online reports, is to terminate Ronaldo’s deal at Old Trafford due to breach of contract. The 37-year-old still has 18-months remaining on his current deal reported to be worth up to £500,000-a-week.

It is understood that Ronaldo has been plotting an exit from The Red Devils with his agent Jorge Mendes speaking to a number of clubs regarding the possibility of a January transfer, including Newcastle United.

According to Mail Online, The Magpies spoke to Mendes in October regarding the player's potential availability. While that news is sure to turn heads, in reality, Ronaldo joining Newcastle in January is a non-starter.

The 37-year-old’s wage demands are likely to price out many potential suitors and would also fall outside Newcastle’s current wage structure which has the club’s highest earners on less than £120,000-per-week.

Magpies midfielder Bruno Guimaraes also said earlier this week that the club aren’t looking to sign players like Ronaldo and will instead look to invest in players with the right ‘mentality’.

And Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe quickly played down the possibility of any ambitious move for Portugal and Real Madrid’s all-time top goalscorer.

"He’s an outstanding player,” Howe admitted. “If you look at his goal record last year, it was incredible. For me, the transfer has worked, it’s been a success.

“We’re trying to provide long-term growth, we’ve got a longer-term vision. At the moment, we have quite an ageing squad, so we probably need to invest in more young players. That’s probably a big part of our progression, really.

“We need to get the average age down, so it might not be a signing that we would necessarily look to make – but not under-estimating the quality of the player.”