Cristiano Ronaldo's criticism of Manchester United has been credited with causing a drop in their stock price last week.
Ronaldo's comments about Manchester United needing to 'rebuild everything' have been cited as one potential reason behind their stock price on the New York Stock Exchange dropping steeply last week.
Ronaldo's commentscame in an interview with his former teammate on podcast Rio Ferdinand Presents, where he claimed United 'cannot compete to win the [Premier] League and Champions League' with Erik ten Hag in charge.
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Cristiano Ronaldo criticism and latest financial report precipitated 10.8% drop in Manchester United share price
The price fell from $16.61 per share at close of trading last Tuesday to just $14.99 per share (a 10.8% drop) in the early hours of Wednesday morning
Ferdinand's podcast was released on Thursday morning, a day after the stock price fall, but Ronaldo's quotes had been released in advance to the press and appeared in the English media on Wednesday morning, before the NYSE had opened for trading.
We should point out that United also released their latest quarterly financial report to the public on the same day and reported a net loss of £113.2m for the 2023/24 financial year, which we dare say will have been more of a major factor.
A spokesperson for Stocklytics commented, saying: “Manchester United is still, despite its on-the-pitch drop off over recent years, a huge, global club.
“However, its listing on the stock exchange means speculation can quickly result in a fall in share price, and the recent comments by a Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo, and its worrying financial results, wiped the best part of £200m off the value of Manchester United's stock.”
However, as of Friday afternoon United's share price had rebounded to $16.25 per share, trending back towards where it had been before Ronaldo's interview and the release of their quarterly financial report.
The Portuguese forward left United for a second time in November 2022 after being handed his release, and subsequently joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr.
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