Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world right now having won three Ballon d’Ors and numerous other trophies during his stellar career. However, when he arrived at Manchester United from Sporting CP, he was just a skinny 18-year-old.
Now, Manchester United legend Gary Neville has insisted that the tough training regime and discipline at Manchester United is what made Ronaldo the superstar he is today. Speaking to TalkSport, Neville said:
“It wasn’t a case of he came in and all of a sudden everyone else upped their game, that’s not how it was.
“He became that out of what was in that dressing room. Cristiano was butchered and battered for two or three years at Manchester United and he has said it made him a man.
“He was setting the standards when he left, and he became someone who would come in and do half an hour before training and an hour after training, but there had been 20 players per season for 15 years doing that every day.
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“The club, and Sir Alex [Ferguson], and the players all set the tone for each other.
“If you look at his performances in the first two or three years — his maturity, his decision making, his physicality, his petulance, they were all smoothed out over a period of three or four years at the club.”
Arguably Cristiano Ronaldo has his best time at Manchester United from 2007-2009 where he was easily the best player in the world, and Gary Neville said:
“For two years, 2007-08 and 2008-09, I cannot believe Manchester United fans could ever have seen anything like that.
“He was just out of this world, like he was from another planet.”
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After leaving Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo has gone from strength to strength cementing his legacy as one of the greatest players of all time. In his stellar career, Ronaldo has won 3 Premier League titles, 3 Champions Leagues and a La Liga title along with numerous individual accolades.
The favourite to win the Ballon d’Or award this year, Ronaldo’s career has definitely been shaped to a great deal by his spell at Manchester United.
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