Ian Holloway believes Cristiano Ronaldo is "bigger than Manchester United " and has criticised Erik ten Hag's handling of the situation.
Ronaldo's United contract was mutually terminated after a controversial interview with Piers Morgan. The Portugal international criticised the club's owners the Glazers and manager Ten Hag, as well as Wayne Rooney, Ralf Rangnick and Gary Neville.
Ronaldo, 37, is now on the hunt for his next club. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is believed to be a target for Saudi clubs Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal but it's unclear if he'll receive an offer from a Champions League club. His stock has plummeted in recent months.
The Real Madrid legend scored just three goals in 16 games for United this term. He did find the net 24 times last season, but the team regressed with him up front. They finished sixth in the Premier League and failed to win a trophy for a fifth consecutive season.
Although former Premier League boss Holloway believes United made the right decision in allowing Ronaldo to leave, he thinks it should've been done much sooner. He's also pinned the blame of Ronaldo's outburst against Tottenham on manager Ten Hag.
"I gave Ronaldo a round of applause after seeing the interview," Holloway told William Hill and Footy Accumulators' No Tippy Tappy Football. "He is bigger than Manchester United and they should have let him go. He has earned the right to do whatever he wants and unfortunately it has ended up a bit sour.
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"Popular or not, a player at your club that doesn’t want to be there is the worst thing you can have - the other players will be looking at him and his negativity. If you are the new manager and the board isn’t listening, you should be looking at yourself and seriously considering if you are at the right club.
"If you are going to tell him against Manchester City, 'I am not going to put you on', it would be embarrassing for you. And then you put him on with three minutes to go in the next game. It was a terrible mistake."
Ronaldo hit the headlines in October when he refused to come on against Spurs. He then stormed down the tunnel and left Old Trafford before full-time. Ten Hag insisted he didn't play Ronaldo in the previous game against Manchester City out of respect.
Former England manager Sam Allardyce agreed with Holloway. He said, "The board have to go with his [Ten Hag's] decision early doors that he wants Cristiano Ronaldo to leave.
"Whatever it takes, move this problem on because of the history of the player at the club and with Sir Alex [Ferguson]. It would have been wise to move him on as quickly as possible for the benefit of the new manager. That had to take precedence over even Ronaldo."
United are now on the hunt for a new centre-forward following Ronaldo's exit. PSV Eindhoven star Cody Gakpo is one of the names being linked after a stunning start to the season, scoring 16 goals and providing 18 assists for the Dutch giants.
