Love him or loathe him (ok, loathe him), you can’t deny that Piers Morgan is a true Twitter master. With more than four million followers, the former Daily Mirror editor is one of the most widely trailed people on social media. According to Press Gazette, he is now the UK’s most influential online journalist and has won a prize for his efforts.

“Social Media is the future for journalism, whether you’re using it to provoke debate, for information or to be entertained,” Morgan tells Press Gazette.

“My advice to any journalist who thinks Twitter’s not for me, or I saw Paxman the other day saying it’s for the brain dead is: it may be, but it’s what the youth of today are using as a form of communication. I like to embrace everything that’s for the future rather than for the past.”

Quite, although Morgan’s record of engaging in Twitter spats with well-known personalities is doubtless key for his high following.

Here’s our pick of Piers’ top five Twitter fights:

1. Piers vs. Rio Ferdinand
In April 2011, Arsenal fan Piers traded barbs with an injured Rio Ferdinand, saying: “Not injured AGAIN, Sicknote?” Ferdinand responded: “tues could be a bad day as Embarrassing Bodies are filming and @piersmorgan starring in episode about moobs.”

2. Piers vs. Lord Sugar
In December 2010, Piers placed a £5,000 wager with Lord Sugar over who could accumulate the most Twitter followers. The rivalry soon descended into name calling: Sugar dubbed Morgan a “DBT – a double barrel tosser”; Morgan dubbed sugar a “disingenuous old growler”.

3. Piers vs. Jeremy Clarkson
In October 2013, Piers retweeted a comment saying “I have no idea who @JeremyClarkson is”. Clarkson responded by suggesting Morgan “will soon be sacked” by CNN. Piers then called Clarkson a “pot-bellied pig” and a “little girl”.

4. Piers vs. One Direction and fans
In November 2012, Piers got into a disagreement with Harry Styles’ footballing hero, David Beckham. Before long, “Piers Morgan is Smelly” was trending, and Piers was feeling the heat from the boy band’s fans: “Now got roughly 25 million One Directioners abusing me – many thanks @Harry_Styles @Real_Liam_Payne @Louis_Tomlinson”.

5. Piers vs. Bradley Wiggins
When Piers took exception to cycling champ Bradley Wiggins’ silence during the national anthem in 2012, he tweeted: “I was very disappointed with @bradwiggins didn’t sing the anthem either. Show some respect to our Monarch please!”. Wiggins had the last laugh: “@piersmorgan I was disappointed when you didn’t go to jail for insider dealing or phone hacking, but you know, each to his own”.

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