Piers Morgan attacks Lionel Messi while trying to praise Ronaldo

British journalist Piers Morgan played a pivotal role in Cristiano Ronaldo's "divorce" from Manchester United late last year. Now, the outspoken host is praising Ronaldo for his decision to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr. However, he found it necessary to throw some shade towards Lionel Messi in the process.

It may be remembered that Ronaldo sat down with Morgan in an explosive interview wherein the Portuguese star slammed Manchester United executives and manager Erik ten Hag for the way he has been treated and the way they had been running the club.

In the aftermath, the club and the player mutually agreed to end their contract early. During the same interview, Ronaldo spoke about his plans and claimed that he won't be making his next move just for money.

When he signed for Al-Nassr, football fans from around the world mocked him (and Morgan by association) for taking the lucrative deal in the relatively obscure Saudi Pro League. In response, Morgan told Tatler: "Thanks to the fall-out from our interview, Ronaldo signed the biggest transfer deal in football history, and is now the world's highest-paid athlete, at the age of 37."

He then proceeded to make a comparison between Ronaldo and the Argentine star, "He's also doing what he's done throughout his career, and which for me gives him the edge over Messi, and that's challenge himself in a new country, and new league, at a time when football in the Middle East is really taking off, as we saw at the Qatar World Cup where Morocco reached the semi-finals and Saudi Arabia beat the eventual winners, Messi's Argentina."

Morgan admitted that Ronaldo would have wanted to play with a club in the Champions League for a few more years, but the move to Saudi Arabia was an offer he simply could not refuse.

Apart from the staggering financial package, Morgan says that Ronaldo welcomes the challenge and is on a mission to raise the profile of the sport in a new region especially with the Middle East becoming more proactive in the sporting world in recent years.

Morgan claims that he has been texting with Ronaldo, who is currently "loving it, on and off the pitch."