Piers Morgan has pointed out that Cristiano Ronaldo has only done what Gary Neville and co. have been calling on him to do in speaking out against Manchester United - although the former right-back has hit back at this claim.
Ronaldo's no holds barred, tell-all interview with Morgan has caused quite the stir, with the United forward airing his views on everyone from manager Erik ten Hag to the Glazers.
The 37-year-old forward has received plenty of backlash as a result of his discussion on Piers Morgan Uncensored, as he took aim at two players he was at one time close to and shared a dressing room with in Neville and Wayne Rooney. Both of the aforementioned former United stars have been somewhat critical of the Portugal skipper at different stages this term.
"It’s hard to listen [to] that kind of criticism and negative about people who play with you, for example, Gary Neville, as well. I think they take advantage of that (his profile) because they are not stupid. I’m the number one followed guy in the world. It’s not by coincidence," Ronaldo claimed.
"To listen as ex-colleagues or team-mates criticise you, when they only see one point of view. It’s easy. It’s easy to criticise, I don’t know if you have a job in television that they must criticise to be more famous. I really don’t understand it. It’s hard when you see people who was in the dressing room with you criticising that way."
Whether it be because of Ronaldo's well-documented desire to leave the club, or his refusal to come off the bench before storming down the tunnel minutes before the full-time whistle had actually gone - Rooney and Neville have both given their thoughts on Ronaldo's behaviour.
Much to his frustration, as part one of his interview showed. However, Morgan has made the bold claim that Ronaldo was only doing what Neville asked for by taking part in the bombshell discussion.
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The journalist dug out an old tweet from the former United defender and quote-tweeted it with a comment of his own that read: "To all those attacking @Cristiano for speaking out and telling the truth… he’s only doing what United legends were calling for him to do…."
The Neville tweet in question was: "Why does the greatest player of all time (in my opinion) have to wait two weeks to tell Manchester United fans the truth? Stand up now and speak.
"The club is in crisis and it needs leaders to lead. He’s the only one who can grab this situation by the scruff of the neck!"
However, what Morgan failed to mention was that the tweet was from August, something Nevilel quickly reminded him of: "Would have been more useful 3 months ago (when my tweet was sent) when the team were in dire trouble than after the last game before a 6 week break but like I said in my interview I’m happy he’s spoken out."
The general consensus is that Ronaldo has surely played his last game in a United shirt, with any route back into the first-team after publicly bashing the manager and the way the club is run now incredibly unlikely.
Suprisingly, Neville did concede that he isn't entirely against Ronaldo and the things the forward said.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the ex-United star claimed: "I agree with some of the things Cristiano has said and many Man Utd fans will agree with many things Cristiano has said but the reality is if you're an employee within a business and say those things your employment has to terminate and Man Utd have to do that in the next few days."
