Piers Morgan has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo approached him about doing the controversial interview where he claimed he felt 'betrayed' by Manchester United.
According to Morgan, Ronaldo wanted to do the interview focusing on troubles at United and his conflicting relationship with Erik ten Hag.
In snippets from the unreleased television interview, Ronaldo accused the club of 'betraying' him and blasted manager Erik ten Hag, adding he doesn't 'respect' the Dutchman. He also slammed his former teammate, Wayne Rooney for his constant criticism.
The full two-part sit-down interview will be showcased on Wednesday and Thursday evening with more bombshell comments expected from Ronaldo.
Morgan himself admits he maintains a good friendship with the Portuguese star and insisted that he felt compelled to do the interview after being contacted by Ronaldo, as he also defended the timing of its release.
'Cristiano asked me to do it. Simple as that. I didn't ask him, he asked me. He's been thinking about this for a while, it's no secret he has build up deep frustration about what has been happening at United,' Morgan told talkSPORT.
'He feels he has to speak out, he knows it will be incendiary, will rattle some changes, but he also feels he should be doing this. He knows people will criticise him but he also knows what he is saying is true.
'Sometimes the truth hurts. He's been thinking about this for a while and I got a call. The World Cup is about to start, it gives him a month away from United and it gives time for what he has said to settle in. He can come back and resolve things.
“He makes the point in the interview repeatedly, he loves Manchester United, he loves the fans but what he’s come back to, in his view, is the stagnated club which hasn’t moved on from the way he’s left it. He can’t understand why not and he feels if he doesn’t speak out nothing will change.” said Morgan.
Ronaldo completed his return to Old Trafford at the start of the 21/22 season having been convinced to re-join Man United by legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, 12 years after he left to join Real Madrid for a then transfer record of £80million.