Manchester United attacker Cristiano Ronaldo sent shockwaves reverberating across the global football sphere when he appeared for an explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
Cristiano Ronaldo attacks Man Utd, Erik Ten Hag in explosive interview
The 37-year-old surfaced on a special edition of Piers Morgan Uncensored, which drops later this week, to address the elephant in the room. At this point, it’s no secret Ronaldo and Man Utd head coach Erik Ten Hag do not see eye-to-eye.
Prior to the Piers Morgan interview, the Portuguese star has been the subject of murmurs about a clash of egos between him and the Dutch manager. The first public spat between the two came in October 2022, during Man Utd’s home fixture against Tottenham.
Despite clinching all three points on the day, Ronaldo refused to be subbed on toward the dying minutes of normal time and, instead, stormed off into the tunnel and didn’t even bother to stop by the dressing room to change out of his kit.
While Ten Hag brushed this off as a necessary part of his rebuild project, for Ronaldo this was the last straw. Tensions between the United legend and Ten Hag are more apparent in the player’s statistics.
As reported by Sky Sports, in the 2021/2022 Premier League season, Ronaldo enjoyed 72% of his time on the pitch, averaging about 137 minutes per goal. This season, however, not only has the 37-year-old spent 41% of his time on the pitch with an unusual 520 minutes per goal average, but Ronaldo also dropped his conversion rate from an under-par 16% to a shocking 4% under Ten Hag.
Following Sunday’s last-minute clincher, Ronaldo, who was not on the team sheet, surfaced in an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, where nothing was left off the table.
Four shocking claims Ronaldo made in the Piers Morgan interview
The full Piers Morgan interview is set to drop in two parts on Wednesday, 16 November 2022 and Thursday. However, already, bits and pieces of the 90-minute tell-all have surfaced online.
Here are four shockers Ronaldo made in the interview:
Sir Alex Ferguson is the reason he did not go to Manchester City
According to Ronaldo, the only reason why he did not end up at Manchester City in the 2021 transfer window, was Sir Alex Ferguson, the iconic United coach who discovered the footballer at Sporting Lisbon back in 2003.
Sir Alex, who is credited as the mentor responsible for Ronaldo’s decorated career, reportedly told the 37-year-old that “It’s impossible for you to go to Manchester City.”
Despite the keen interest from Pep Guardiola’s side, Ronaldo followed his heart and returned to Old Trafford from Juventus in August 2021.
His shocking views on Man Utd interim boss, Ralf Rangnick
Ronaldo slammed United’s former interim boss Ralf Rangnick, who was brought in to evaluate the club’s standing and keep the damage caused by former coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær, while a permanent solution was sought.
It seems, for Ronaldo, the problems at Old Trafford started back when he rejoined the club with Rangnick at the helm.
“After Ole, they bring in sport directive Ralf Rangnick, which is something nobody understands. This guy is not even a coach. A big club like Manchester United bringing in a sport directive surprised not only me but all the world. If you’re not even a coach, how are you going to be the boss of Manchester United? I’d never even heard of him,” Ronaldo told Morgan.
Ronaldo believes he is being forced out of Man Utd
Ronaldo made it abundantly clear that he was well aware of the apparent plot to force him out of Man Utd. Asked if there were forces in the club’s hierarchy that wanted him gone, the 37-year-old agreed, stating that his gripe is not only with Ten Hag but “two or three guys around the club.”
“Yes I feel betrayed, and I felt some people don’t want me here, not just this year, but last year too,” he said.
He has no respect for Erik Ten Hag
The legendary no.7 drew a line in the sand between him and Ten Hag when he told Piers Morgan that he had no respect for Man Utd’s head coach.
“I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me. If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never gonna have respect for you,” he said.
The Cristiano Ronaldo x Piers Morgan interview will be made available below as soon as it drops later this week.