Cristiano Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes has won the 2022 Globe Soccer Award for Best Agent of the year amid huge uncertainty surrounding the future of his main client.
It marks the 10th year in a row Mendes has scooped the gong, a record in itself but his attention will most likely be on what to do with wantaway Manchester United star Ronaldo. The 37-year-old forward has plunged his Old Trafford future into huge doubt after his bombshell tell-all interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored.
During the discussion, Ronaldo aired his unfiltered views on everyone from manager Erik ten Hag to United's owners the Glazers. The general consensus among fans and pundits alike is that it would come as a huge surprise if the five-time Ballon d'Or winner ever donned the United shirt again.
He openly discussed his club future for all to see, at one stage admitting that it is "probably better" for both him and the club if they start a new chapter apart.
Pressed for comment on whether he'll still be a United player come the turn of the year, Ronaldo replied: "It's difficult to tell right now, it’s because, we, my mood is right now to The World Cup. It's probably my last World Cup, of course, my fifth World Cup.
"I don't know what's gonna happen after the World Cup, but as I told you before, and I will say again, the fans will be always in my heart. And I hope they been in my side, even if I back, or if I'm not back, or if I stay or whatever. Nobody's perfect. Episodes in the life we all have is part of the human beings, is part of me to be a human being and father as well. I always will commit mistakes.
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"But I don't know, it's hard to tell right now what's going to happen to World Cup because my focus is for the World Cup, for the Portugal national team."
Ronaldo used the interview as an opportunity to get plenty of ill-feeling towards the manager off his chest. Arguably the most damning line of the whole thing came when he claimed: "If you don’t have respect for me, I'm never going to have respect for you," when talking about Ten Hag.
Since news of the interview broke, it has been reported that the United manager has made it clear to those above him in the hierarchy that Ronaldo can never play for the club again while Ten Hag is at the helm.
Mendes could be a busy man finding Ronaldo a new club in the coming weeks.