TV host, Piers Morgan, has claimed Cristiano Ronaldo will be “happy” to leave Manchester United.
On Tuesday, United announced the termination of Ronaldo’s contract.
It saw the end of the 37-year-old striker’s love affair with the Old Trafford club, which saw him score 145 goals and win nine trophies across two separate spells.
Having been desperate to leave the Red Devils since handing in a transfer request over the summer, Ronaldo’s exit became an inevitability once he’d sat down with Morgan for an explosive, unauthorised interview.
In the astonishing 90-minute chat, the Portuguese megastar took aim at manager Erik ten Hag, owners the Glazer family – who’ve since put United up for sale – and various other high-profile figures connected to the club, such as Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville. Now that Ronaldo is a free agent after having his £480,000-a-week contract terminated, Morgan has issued his verdict on how the five-time Ballon d’Or winner will be feeling.
Speaking on Jeremy Kyle Live at 7pm on TalkTV as the news unfolded, Morgan admitted: “I’m surprised perhaps at the speed it’s happened, but I’m not surprised that Cristiano’s leaving Manchester United – it seems by mutual consent. I doubt that would’ve happened without the interview, so it’s had huge consequences.
“But I think he will be happy, he’s now free to pursue his career with a club that hopefully will show him a bit more respect than the current ownership and executives at Manchester United.”
Ronaldo is okay
Morgan was then asked by Kyle whether he’d been in contact with Ronaldo in the wake of the interview, to which he replied: “I’ve been in daily contact with Cristiano to make sure he’s OK with everything as it’s all rolled out. It’s entirely how he wanted it to be, he wanted to have his say, and he knew what he wanted to say.
“He’s the greatest footballer that’s ever played the game. And he’s the biggest spotting icon, he had half a billion Instagram followers this week and he’s at the World Cup so it’s the biggest possible stage and the biggest possible icon at the centre of a huge drama. He’s used to drama but he was fed up with the way he’s been treated – it’s as simple as that.”
