Piers Morgan reckons that Cristiano Ronaldo will be "happy" after his acrimonious departure from Manchester United was finally confirmed.
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, came to an end in a messy divorce on Tuesday, as a brief statement from United bid him farewell. 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."
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.
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"He's the greatest footballer that's ever played the game. 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."
Despite Ronaldo's departure feeling like a weight off the Red Devils' shoulders - given how the saga surrounding his future dominated the first stage of Ten Hag's reign at Old Trafford - Morgan had a parting shot for any supporters who may be pleased to see the back of their legendary No.7.
"If their fans are happy they've lost Cristiano Ronaldo they need their minds checking," he added. "Because he remains, to me, one of the best strikers in the world."
Watch Jeremy Kyle Live and Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV weekday evenings from 7pm and 8pm. Available on Sky 522, Sky Glass 508, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217 as well as on DAB, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV Plus, YouTube, the Talk.TV website and TalkTV iOS and Android apps.
