Controversial right-wing psychologist Jordan Peterson has claimed that he helped Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo through a mental health breakdown.

Ronaldo came under heavy criticisms earlier this month when the Portuguese forward posted an Instagram picture of him and Peterson, who has been accused for his racist and misogynist view, alongside a caption that says “Nice to see you my friend”.

Peterson, 60, appeared as a guest on British TV host show ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’ – where the two discussed the Canadian professor meeting the former Real Madrid player.

Morgan is also a close friend of Ronaldo and has always jumped in the defence of the 37-year-old football icon.

Morgan told Peterson that “It seemed to me, talking to him (Ronaldo) in the last couple of days after he saw you, he’s in a much better place.”

Peterson responded by boasting about himself and gave details on him meeting Ronaldo. “That’s what happens when you hang out with a reprobate like me.”

“He invited me to come and see him,” Peterson continued. “He’d had some trouble in his life a few months ago and a friend of his sent him some of my videos and he said he’d watched those.

“Then he read one of my books and found it helpful. He wanted to talk.

“I went out to his house and we talked for about two hours. He showed me all his equipment for staying in tip-top condition, and we talked about his companies. Mostly we talked about what he wanted in the future and some of the obstacles that he’s facing.”

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner and partner Georgina Rodriguez lost one of their newborn twins earlier this year.