“Cristiano asked me to do it - simple as that” - Piers Morgan reveals motive behind Ronaldo’s decision to speak up through controversial interview

TV personality Piers Morgan has revealed Cristiano Ronaldo asked him to get the controversial interview done as he wanted to set things straight about Manchester United.

The journalist claims the Portuguese star is fed up with how stagnant things are at the club and wanted to tell the fans about it.

Ronaldo's full interview with Morgan drops this week on Wednesday and Thursday, but short clips of the explosive interview have been posted as teasers for the 90-minute talk.

On talkSPORT, Morgan was asked why he conducted the interview, and he claimed it was the Manchester United star's decision. He added the forward was frustrated with things at the club:

"Well, Cristiano asked me to do it – simple as that. I didn't ask him, he asked me. It was all very recent. He's been thinking about this for a while. I think it's no secret that he's felt a build-up of deep frustration about what's been happening at United over the last year. He felt it was time to speak out."

Continuing about the interview, he added:

"He knows it was going to be incendiary, he knows this is going to rattle some cages, but he also feels that he should be doing this. He knows people will criticise him, but he also knows that what he's saying is true. Sometimes the truth hurts."

Piers Morgan refuses to reveal date of Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo's interview

Piers Morgan was asked by talkSPORT about when he conducted the Cristiano Ronaldo interview, but the journalist refused to reveal the date.

He simply added that the interview was recent and said:

"That is between me and Cristiano. He has been thinking about it for a while. I think part of the timing was the World Cup is obviously about to start, he's with Portugal, a good team, he can have a good World Cup.

"It gives him a month away from United. It gives time for what he said to settle in and he can come back and try and resolve things. As he makes the point in the interview repeatedly – he loves Manchester United, he loves the fans."