No, Cristiano Ronaldo Did Not Say He Regrets Leaving Real Madrid

A recent quote attributed to football player Cristiano Ronaldo where he has expressed regret over leaving Real Madrid is false. Piers Morgan, the journalist who took this interview has rubbished the fake quote circulating on Twitter.

Morgan recently interviewed the Portuguese footballer, where the latter spoke about how he felt "betrayed" by Manchester United and called himself a "black sheep". The interview was shot as part of Morgan's show 'Piers Morgan Uncensored', which will air in the UK on 16 and 17 November, 2022.

Amid the anticipation around this interview, one tweet that has been circulating online claims that Ronaldo spoke about how he regrets leaving Real Madrid. Tweeted by @theMadridlZone, the fake quote reads, "Ronaldo: "Leaving R. Madrid? Biggest regret of my career. I had respect there, I had love there. If I went back in time, I would play there for free. I should never have left the biggest club in the world. They treated me like a king." via @piersmorgan #rmalive""

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The tweet has over 55,700 likes and more than 6,200 retweets.

FACT-CHECK

BOOM found that the quote has been fabricated, and so far, no clips from the interview have been released where Ronaldo is speaking about his former club, Real Madrid.

Piers Morgan, who took the interview, has rubbished the quote on Twitter himself. He wrote, "46k 'likes' for a fake quote. Ronaldo doesn't say this. I hope @elonmusk sorts out this kind of crap too."

The "explosive" interview claims to make several revelations about Ronaldo's treatment by Manchester united, specifically the club's manager, Erik ten Hag.

Ahead of the full interview's telecast, a few short clips and a written version have been published on The Sun's website, written by Morgan. The written version, too, does not mention any quote by Ronaldo where he is talking about Real Madrid.

While receiving the MARCA Legend award in 2019, Ronaldo had spoken about leaving Real Madrid and said that he too, was sad about it.

Cristiano Ronaldo, five-time Ballon d'Or winner, left Juventus in 2021 to join Manchester United. Following several disputes and a suspension by manager Erik ten Hag, Ronaldo has expressed interest to leave the club. He even skipped the team's pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia due to family issues.