Rio Ferdinand hails Cristiano Ronaldo's transformation into a goal scoring machine

Former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand latest to shower praise on Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand has praised Cristiano Ronaldo for the remarkable transformation he has undergone, since joining the Red Devils back in 2003, The Mirror reports.

The Portuguese scored 117 goals for United in 296 appearances, before his world record £80m move to Los Blancos in 2009.

Since then, Ronaldo has scored goals at a staggering pace for Real Madrid, netting 324 goals in 311 matches.

The ex-England defender, now a pundit on BT Sports, lauded his former team-mate and stated that he knew Ronaldo had something special, even before he joined United from Sporting Lisbon.

He said on BT Sports, “From the moment we set eyes on him in Sporting Lisbon when we played against them in a friendly, we all came off saying, wow, we need to get this player, he's a fantastic player. He had the potential to go on and be a world class player, but I didn't believe he would go on and be this machine in terms of goals.”

“He scores goals at a rate that has never been seen before, him and Messi, and you would never have been able to predict that at all. He was a show pony a little. He loved skills and stuff, but now he just goes on that pitch with the pure purpose of scoring goals."

Ferdinand and Ronaldo spent 6 years at Old Trafford together. In the process, they won three Premier League titles and one Champions League trophy. He also won his first Ballon d’Or while playing for the Red Devils in 2008.

Over the years, the Portuguese forward has reiterated his love for Manchester United several times. United famously tried to re-sign Ronaldo back in 2013 when David Moyes was in charge, but he ignored the approach before signing a new contract at Real Madrid until 2018. But United’s financial muscle has increased tremendously since then and under Louis van Gaal, they have been rebuilding the squad with some big-money signings over the last two seasons.

Last weekend, Ronaldo raced past Raul’s record as Real Madrid’s all-time highest goal scorer, when he netted against Levante in a 3-0 win. Raul scored 323 goals in 741 appearances for Los Blancos.

The captain of Portugal's national team is also the all-time leading goal scorer in UEFA Champions League, with 83 goals in 122 appearances. Though, he failed to score against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, as both teams settled for a 0-0 draw on Wednesday.