Piers Morgan interview is great example of what Cristiano Ronaldo does best

Twenty years have passed since the latest wonderkid burst on to the scene after impressing Sir Alex Ferguson in a pre-season friendly.

In the grand scheme of things, paying £12.25m felt like a risk for a player that was slight of frame and untested in the Premier League. But there was little doubt Ferguson had pulled off something of a masterstroke when Cristiano Ronaldo produced a cameo performance full of vibrancy and skill. There was bravery and a degree of arrogance as the Portuguese youngster received the acclaim of the Old Trafford faithful with a roar that would be heard many times over the following six years.

Premier League titles, a Champions League win, FA Cups and League Cups followed, with Ronaldo more than playing his part with an increasingly stunning array of goals of all kinds. Free-kicks and powerful finishes that defied the laws of physics and headers that simply defied gravity became commonplace.

Yet now, despite a glittering career playing for some of Europe’s greatest clubs, Ronaldo’s latest antics mean he is running riot over his own legacy and the only goal that will be remembered is a spectacular own goal in the PR stakes. In cosying up to his good friend Piers Morgan and hitting out at all in sundry, one of the undoubted greatest players of all-time has allowed his mask to slip yet again and proven everything simply has to be about him and him alone.

Barely anyone or anything were safe from his criticism. Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Erik ten Hag, the Glazer family, Ralf Rangnick, staff at the top end of the club, the lack of improvement in the club’s infrastructure all found themselves in the firing line. Some of his observations, it must be said, were more than valid. The club’s controversial owners deserve criticism as the 13-time Premier League champions fall further and further away from the tag of perennial title contenders.

But it’s hard not to be cynical about all of this.

The big winner in all of this is the man teeing up Ronaldo in a manner similar to his devastating partnership with Wayne Rooney that once lit up Old Trafford. Piers provided the pinpoint crosses that allowed Ronaldo to tap home from close range with ease. Nothing about his antics following the recent win against Tottenham Hotspur, no questions about his refusal to appear as a substitute. Nothing about the fact Ten Hag had made him captain of the side just weeks earlier, despite showing an apparent disrespect for the former Real Madrid and Juventus star. Feed the ego and get Ronaldo to discuss his favourite subject - himself - and he delivers time-after-time.

Rather than an apparent hard-hitting interview, this was a PR partnership that benefits both sides. Morgan gets the attention, air-time and column inches he craves and Ronaldo moves a big step closer to severing his ties with the club he claims to love, just as he hoped to do during the summer. It should not be forgotten he claimed he was ‘a slave’ when the Red Devils put the brakes on a deal with Real Madrid in 2008, 12 months before the move came to fruition.

People have called him prolific, motivated and single-minded throughout his career. Ronaldo has shown all three ‘qualities’ once again and for all of his own utterances about his ‘love’ for Manchester United, the only real aim is and always has been self-gain.