Piers Morgan defends pal Cristiano Ronaldo and says Man Utd star turned down £115m Saudi Arabia transfer last summer

PIERS MORGAN threw his support behind pal Cristiano Ronaldo amid his Manchester United crisis.

And he insists the Portuguese forward turned down £115million to play in Saudi Arabia.

Ronaldo, 37, has come under heavy criticism in recent months for trying to force through a transfer exit from Old Trafford.

But after staying put in Manchester, he plunged his time at the club under further strain by refusing to come on as a late substitute against Tottenham – then left the stadium before full-time.

After being banned and fined, SunSport revealed he has no allies left at the club and may not play in a United shirt ever again.

The Red Devils could be open to allowing Ronaldo to leave in January.

However, one of the doubts has been whether they could find a buyer after he failed to secure a summer switch.

But SunSport columnist Morgan refuted those suggestions – by claiming Ronaldo had an offer from the Middle East but rejected it.

He United management to damage him…

“@Cristiano received an offer of 130m euros to play for one season in Saudi but turned it down.

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“Ten Hag trying to lecture @Cristiano on standards and values when he’s deliberately humiliating him… what a joke.

“One is the greatest footballer of all time and a champion in 4 countries… the other was a c**p player and as a manager, has barely won a conker fight outside of Holland.”;

Earlier this week, he added: “I think the collective disrespect towards Cristiano from his manager and many Utd fans after all he’s done for your club, not least last season, is shameful. There’s my opinion.”;

Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Napoli and Juventus were among the Champions League sides who decided not to pursue a transfer.

Meanwhile, Saudi club Al-Hilal claimed their mega-money move for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner only fell through because of a transfer ban.

Chelsea are being linked with a shock swoop for Ronaldo in January as well.

However, should United take Gary Neville’s advice and rip up the No7’s contract early to get him out of the club, it would cost them £10m.