Cristiano Ronaldo’s answer to a question from Piers Morgan about his playing future has re-entered the spotlight in the wake of his mega-money switch to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.
The transfer was announced on Saturday morning (AEDT), with the Portuguese superstar set to pocket a reported $A313m salary.
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Ronaldo’s departure from Manchester United came in the wake of the 37-year-old’s controversial interview with Piers Morgan on Piers Morgan Uncensored, in which Ronaldo took aim at Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag, United’s front office as well as the Glazer family, who own the club.
In the interview, Morgan posed the question as to what Ronaldo’s true motivation for playing football is.
However, the Portuguese superstar’s response now paints his move in an entirely different light.
Morgan asked: “Is it also that you want to keep playing at the highest level, that you want to play Champions League football, that you want to keep breaking records?”
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He continued: “Again, it comes back to my gut feeling about you. If it was just about the money, you’d be in Saudi Arabia earning this King’s ransom. But that’s not what motivates you.”
Ronaldo responded: “Exactly. Because I still believe I can score many, many goals in the top teams because I still believe that I’m still good and capable to help the team and the national team.”
The former Real Madrid and Juventus star heads to the Gulf after a year that saw him relegated to the bench for Portugal and cut adrift by United.
United terminated his contract while Ronaldo was with Portugal at the World Cup.
Ronaldo’s quest for a World Cup winners’ medal started well as he became the first player to score in five global tournaments when he converted a penalty in their win against Ghana.
But he was left out of the starting line-up for their last-16 clash as Portugal ripped Switzerland apart.
When Portugal lost to Morocco in the quarter-finals, he started on the bench and ended the tournament in tears.