(Football news) Five time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo has been training at Real Madrid’s Valdebebas base after his contract was terminated by Manchester United and is free to join a new club on January 1st. Ronaldo’s controversial interview with Piers Morgan brought an end to his second spell at Manchester United after he said that he had “no respect” for manager Erik ten Hag and criticised the club’s facilities.

The interview with Piers Morgan occurred two days before Portugal’s World Cup campaign and the 37 year old started all the Group Stage games but reacted angrily in the final game against South Korea after being substituted. He was subsequently dropped against Switzerland with his replacement Goncalo Ramos scoring a hat-trick in a 6-1 victory. The Portuguese Football Federation went on to deny that Ronaldo had threatened to leave the squad after being dropped.

Ronaldo admitted that this could be his last World Cup by saying “The dream was nice while it lasted” and would be particularly frustrated in seeing his longtime rival Lionel Messi reach the final. The 37 year old has not taken a break since leaving Qatar and by training at Real Madrid’s Valdebebas, he is clearly indicating that he’s ready to move to a new club. Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr has been linked to the player in a big money move while he is also said to have a few other options.

Also read: WC 2022: Messi magic leads Argentina to their 5th World Cup final ever