Club legends who didn’t get their deserved goodbye RANKED: Messi, Ronaldo… | OneFootball

Mo Salah’s time at Liverpool looks set to come to an underwhelming end in the near future after the Egyptian attacked the club in the press.

A calculated outburst following Liverpool’s 3-3 draw against Leeds looks to be the catalyst for the end of Salah at Liverpool and one of the club’s best players of all time is set to leave Anfield without the departure he perhaps deserves.

However, Salah is not the first great to leave a club without the recognition he warrants and here are six more examples from football history.

6. Lionel Messi

Before 2021, the concept of Messi leaving Barcelona would have seemed completely alien, let alone him doing it with no fanfare.

Barcelona’s fumbling of the greatest player of all time is a lesson for everyone on how keeping on top of your finances is important, regardless of how big you are.

Messi being on a rolling contract, coupled with La Liga’s strict financial rules, meant the club could not register him for the upcoming season.

And it went from rumours of his departure to him crying behind a podium in a matter of days.

What that meant is Messi’s final game for Barcelona was a sad 2-1 defeat to Celta in front of an empty Camp Nou.

Since then, Messi has only made one return to the stadium – an unannounced one at that – but there has been a desire for a proper send-off, and a statue at least seems likely.

5. Roy Keane

Keane‘s departure from United is perhaps the most infamous exit of all time, but for the few of you who somehow don’t know the story of an Irishman and an unaired MUTV interview, here goes.

MUTV, the in-house media channel of Manchester United, had a ‘Play the Pundit’ section and decided Keane would be an ideal choice. Only problem was it came in the wake of a 4-1 shellacking at Middlesbrough, and the club captain was less than thrilled.

He ripped into his own teammates so much so that the interview never saw the light of day, and soon it was brought to Ferguson’s attention.

The touchpaper to the biggest stack of dynamite that had been building for a few years had been lit, and Keane’s position became untenable. Not only did he lose the capacity, he was outright sacked and left without any fanfare.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo has not one but two sad departures on his CV, but to be fair, they are both of his own making.

The first came at Madrid, and after a number of years of Ronaldo flirting at the possibility of leaving, he became the boy who cried wolf – until he didn’t.

Ronaldo eventually did leave in the summer of 2018 after another disagreement over his contract. Juventus came calling, and Madrid fans never got a chance for a proper goodbye.

That pales in comparison to his second United exit though, when he did his own version of Keane’s MUTV interview. Only this time it wasn’t to the easily controllable in-house media but to Ronaldo superfan Piers Morgan.

Ronaldo torched the club, criticising manager Erik ten Hag in particular, as well as legends like Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville.

The result was an expected one. The fans soured with the club, and Ronaldo’s contract was torn up, paving a way to Saudi and forever spoiling the memory of their once-beloved winger.

3. Luis Suarez

What do you get for being part of your club’s best-ever attacking trio? Winning them multiple leagues and a Champions League? A kick out the door, it seems.

Barcelona enjoyed Suarez for many years, but when they decided they were done with him, they quickly tossed him and sent him off to Atletico.

Suarez said he felt “disrespected” by the way it was handled after he was given the cold shoulder, and he repaid them by moving to Atletico and winning the league there.

The forward is still beloved by the Barcelona fans, while the president at the time, Josep Maria Bartomeu, is one of the most hated men in the city

2. Iker Casillas

Casillas‘ departure from Madrid began with peak Mourinho antics.

With Mourinho looking to exert his power now over the Madrid dressing room but the media, he benched club captain and Spain legend Casillas in favour of Diego Lopez.

But the fact that successor Carlo Ancelotti also kept Casillas on the bench suggested it was not just mind games.

By the summer of 2015 and with Keylor Navas at the club, Casillas accused president Florentino Perez of trying to force him out of the club, and he subsequently left for Porto.

The manner of the departure was criticised across Spain, with Barcelona captain Xavi suggesting Perez and Madrid had been ungrateful for the goalkeeper’s service.

1. Sergio Ramos

Casillas was not the only Madrid legend to leave with a whimper, as Ramos also departed without a hero’s exit.

Mr.93rd minute was done dirty by Madrid in the summer of 2021. After an admittedly injury-hit season, Madrid announced he would be leaving that summer.

But, during his farewell event, Ramos revealed that he had expected a one-year renewal, only to discover the offer had expired without his knowledge.

As a result, he left as a free agent and joined PSG.