Piers Morgan: 'Ronaldo is absolutely sick and tired of having to carry United'

“I’ve had a lot of chats with him about this and I know that his frustration has been boiling and boiling and boiling throughout the year,” a UK TV personality Piers Morgan told Talksport about Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Remember, he came to Manchester United again because he believed that he could win things with them and believed that he was going to be a missing cog in the wheel and they’d not only qualify for the Champions League, but that they might even win the league.

“I think he was incredibly disappointed by the general level of dedication, hard graft, enthusiasm and will to win, not to mention the hunger of that Man United squad. Particularly some of the younger players.

“He was soaking up the advice [from Scholes, Keane, Giggs, Ferdinand when he was a teenager] but I got the impression from the interview that he gave that he’s not been getting that at United. They don’t really want to hear it.

“When you look at those younger United players, there’s a lot of talent there but do they have anything like the drive needed, which comes from within, as Ronaldo says.

“He ended up scoring 24 goals last season, 18 in the league, second behind Son and Salah. He scored one more league goal than Harry Kane who is nearly 10 years younger than him.

“This guy is supposedly supposed to be the problem at Manchester United. He’s not the problem, and he’s going to leave, I think, because he’s absolutely sick and tired of having to carry that squad.”

Piers Morgan is understood to have a friendly relationship with Cristiano. An Arsenal fan, Morgan recently urged the Portuguese to consider a move to the Emirates.

Multiple sources have confirmed Ronaldo's desire to leave United. He has not returned to training yet and his participation in the team's Thailand and Australia tour is in doubt.