Cristiano Ronaldo 'would have joined Celtic or Rangers' to boost records held over Lionel Messi

Today at 07:32 AM

Piers Morgan once claimed Cristiano Ronaldo would have joined Celtic or Rangers if it meant stopping Lionel Messi from breaking his Champions League records.

Ronaldo left European football at the end of 2022 when he moved on from Manchester United to join Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.

It followed an explosive interview with Morgan on Talk TV, which ultimately ruled out any future at Old Trafford.

The 39-year-old’s decision join the Saudi Pro League put a cap on his many European records, although Morgan previously suggested his friend would have preferred to sign for a Champions League team.

Morgan joined talkSPORT in January 2023 to reflect on the transfer – and was quizzed by ex-host Laura Woods over his view that Ronaldo was trying to grow the game in Saudi Arabia.

Woods asked him: “Can I give you a quick scenario? If the Scottish Premiership had the money that the Saudis do, would you have the same opinion if Ronaldo went to play there?"

Morgan replied: “Ronaldo would have gone anywhere that had Champions League football.

“I know for a fact because he repeatedly told me what he really wanted to do was extend his Champions League career.

“He has most of the records in the Champions League and he wants to extend them, probably so that Messi can't catch him and that he ends up as the GOAT of Champions League football.

"That was his motivating factor. I do believe that he's driven more by records and legacy than he is by money.

“He's already got half a billion pounds so it's not like he needs a few quid in Saudi Arabia; he just happens to be getting a stupendous payday to build football there from a very good platform of beating the World Champions (Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina in their opening game of the 2022 World Cup).

"So things did change a lot in the last few months in terms of the narrative of football in the Middle East.

“It was a tremendous World Cup for the region generally, so it looks a little less crazy than it would have done six months ago when Saudi were a complete irrelevance in football.”

Ronaldo’s record in the Champions League was beyond impressive.

The Portuguese superstar is the tournament’s highest-ever goalscorer with 141 goals, compared to Messi’s 129.

He has also played the most matches in the tournament (187), got the most assists (42), scored the most penalties (19), played more minutes than any outfield player (16189) and was the tournament’s top goalscorer in six different campaigns, compared to Messi’s five.

With Messi now plying his trade in the MLS with Inter Miami, Ronaldo will be confident that his records will remain unbroken for some time.

With 906 career goals to his name, Ronaldo now has his sights set on one last record as he aims to reach a staggering 1000 goals before he hangs up his boots.