‘Hunger, desire, fury’ – Piers Morgan gives rare behind-the-scenes insight into Cristiano Ronaldo visit

Piers Morgan gave fascinating insight into his trip to see Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner turned 40 on Wednesday but continues to lead the line for Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.

In 25 appearances in all competitions this season, Ronaldo has scored 23 goals.

Meanwhile, he is the league's top scorer with 15 strikes to his name, one of which came in front of Morgan against Al Fateh last month.

Reflecting on watching Ronaldo, the broadcaster told Breakfast: "I was in Saudi Arabia last week and I went to one of his games.

"If you watch Ronaldo play for Al Nassr, playing in front of you know 16 to 20,000 fans in a league that is obviously not currently in the top 3 or 4 in the world.

"The hunger, the desire, the fury when he had a goal disallowed, the fury when he didn't get a penalty, the cajoling of his colleagues, the drive, the commitment, the work ethic, the fitness levels he's still at are really quite extraordinary.

"I went to his house on Friday night and we had a really good chat. We were talking about when he was at Sporting Lisbon's academy as a 12 year old kid and how he was so poor that they had very little money as family.

"He was hungry all the time and he used to go to the local McDonald's and just hang out the back and he'd wait for free burgers from some kind ladies who were there.

"And he told me all about that back when I first interviewed him when he was still at Juventus.

"He said you know the thing is because I was asking him ‘How do you still have this drive, this hunger, this passion, this determination at 40?’ It's sort of crazy. And he said ‘because I never forgot what it was like to actually be hungry’. And he said ‘it stayed with me to this day’. He said ‘I just have this hunger to constantly play, score, break records, win matches’.

"Whatever you think of the debate about whether he's the greatest I happen to think he is as he said statistically I think he's pretty well nailed that claim, although others will have other players.

"Obviously whatever you think of him I think when it comes to work ethic and desire and hunger there's definitely never been anyone better than Ronaldo."

Ronaldo has given interviews in the days leading up to his landmark birthday and one comment about who is the greatest player of all-time immediately caught people's eye.

He argued that he was the greatest of all-time ahead of the likes of long-time rival Messi.

Morgan even detailed a conversation they once had about the Argentina superstar.

He said: "I once talked to Ronaldo about the Messi thing and he said Messi is the best player he's ever seen.

"But then he laughed and said, but I don't watch myself and he was laughing."

Morgan and Ronaldo embraced pitchside after the forward's strike in the 3-1 win over Al Fateh.

The goal has helped the former Manchester United forward reach a tally of 81 in 89 matches since joining Al Nassr in January 2023.

As for as how his arrival has impacted football in Saudi Arabia, Morgan added: "When I watched him he scored an absolute banger which got disallowed and shouldn't have been. He scored another one and another one disallowed.

"He's scoring goals all the time out there. Now the standard I would put it somewhere around like Championship standard. It's not bad at all.

"They've got a lot of very good footballers now in the Saudi league as we know. They're not just having trophy players. They're now going as we've seen with this kid from Villa going over there.

"They're getting the young ones coming through because they're aware that really the difference I think watching it compared to the Premier League it's just the pace of play.

"Ronaldo is obviously not as quick as he used to be. Mane plays for Al Nassr with him. He's not as quick as he used to be.

"Obviously they haven't got the speed but in terms of the intelligence and also I think in terms of the impact he's had on the other players.

"I mean the guys were telling me that the Saudi sports minister on day one that Ronaldo went to Al Nassr. He just got him a dressing room and totally took control of the players and he said this is how things are going to be now."

Ronaldo has yet to secure a league title with Al Nassr during his two years in Saudi Arabia, despite winning the golden boot last season.

His side are currently third in the table after 18 matches of the current campaign.

Al Nassr sit eight points adrift of Al Hilal and Al Ittihad in the title race, though.

Ronaldo and his team-mates are next in action on Friday at home to Al Fayha.