Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo have separated and one of the biggest stars of the World Cup in Qatar is suddenly without a club.
The English record champions confirmed the Portuguese's departure on Tuesday evening.
The decision was made by consensus.
The club thanked Ronaldo for his "huge contribution" at Old Trafford, scoring 145 goals in 346 appearances.
Ronaldo returned to his old place of work in the summer of 2021, but he was unable to repeat his former heyday and has recently been increasingly sidelined.
Ronaldo had already played for the Red Devils between 2003 and 2009 and started his world career there.
United now want to focus on "continuing the progress of the team under Erik ten Hag and working together on successes on the pitch," the statement said.
Before leaving for the World Cup, Ronaldo had struck harsh accounts with United on the show “Piers Morgan Uncensored” and thus made the headlines off the pitch.
United is said to have turned on its lawyers.
Portugal will start the tournament on Thursday in Group H against Ghana (5 p.m. CET in the FAZ live ticker for the World Cup, on ZDF and MagentaTV).
Other group opponents are Uruguay and South Korea.