Fact remains that it is going to be hard for Ronaldo to find a team in January. He knows that. It won't stop him from doing this interview. Now the ball is in our court, what do we do?
There are a few options:
-We/Mendes find a buyer.
-We terminate Ronaldo's contract on grounds of him breaching it. Grounds? Walking off, claiming to be sick for our last game when he wasn't, acting to hurt the Club's reputation.
-We mutually agree with Ronaldo to terminate his contract. This can include us paying him of partly or fully.
-We "keep him" (i.e. we fail to sell him and his contract is not terminated). This leaves four options:
(a) We go on with him on the squad, let him train with the club and play when needed.
(b) We remove him from training with the big club and let him train with the youth team or whatever. Ronaldo gets paid if he reports, he doesn't get paid if he doesn't.
(c) We suspend him for as long as it is possible, the reminder of his contract (would that be possible? I am not sure if our suspension/fining options are limited in the contracts).
(d) Ronaldo refuses to report after the WC, and sits out until his contract runs out.
From our perspective, I am sure that we want to get out of his contract, and rather quickly at that, so that we can replace him in January. That does complicates things. It would be really easy for us to go, Ronaldo passed the line here, we will sell him if we can, if we can't sell him he is off the team, he can show up at Carrington and put in the hours between 08.00 and 17.00 training by himself or with the youths if he wants to, in which case he will be paid, or he may opt to not do so in which case he won't be paid. Ronaldo would never report and effectively he is of the books. But in this case nothing is ever settled before the January window closes.
Is there enough grounds for us to terminate the contract? I don't know. I think there is. But I don't know how much of a hassle it would be. If there are any risks. If there are any set procedures to go through.
Personally, I wonder if its not just best to flat out terminate the contract. Be proactive with the press, say that we assume that this is what both parties want. Ronaldo clearly doesn't want to be here, so we recon its a mere formality for us to terminate the contract. Give him the WC to audition for a new contract with a CL team. We would probably end up playing parts of his salary after a settlement for wrongful termination, which we would never hear about since its to be settled and confirmed by an arbitration board covered by confidentiality. Ronaldo gets a new contract somewhere in January, if he is free he is free. Someone would pick him up. Just for the sale of jersey's alone. Ronaldo's damages is the difference between what he makes at his new club and what he would have made here. He is going to get a hefty salary at his new club for sure. A third or half of what he made here? Our settlement with him would at worst be what, 50% of the damages? That is like 25% of his salary. We should be able to count on 75% of his contract being available to sign a new striker in January. Like a Depay on loan or whatever to back-up Martial. From a financials point of view -- we own the initiative if we terminate Ronaldo's contract. If we claim that we have legit grounds for it, we can put it "below the line", i.e. we recognize that there is a risk for us to pay damages, but his contract comes directly off the books, at least until a potential settlement is reached.
