"We had everything" - Years after leaving Manchester United, Nani reveals fun of living with Cristiano Ronaldo in England

Former Manchester United winger Nani has opened up on how it felt to share a home with Cristiano Ronaldo during his early days in England. The Portuguese winger followed in Cristiano Ronaldo's footsteps when he joined the Red Devils from Sporting CP back in 2007. Even though Cristiano Ronaldo left Old Trafford to join Real Madrid in 2009, Nani ended up staying with the Premier League giants till 2015.

And nearly a decade after leaving England, Nani has now lifted the lid on his early days of sharing a home with the Portugal captain. In an interview with Sky Sports, he reflected upon how taking up the responsibility of living away from parents at a young age changed his life.

Nani also added that him and Ronaldo enjoyed all the facilities they needed to grow as footballers at Manchester United. He stated:

“For a young player [like me coming to Manchester United and staying with Ronaldo and Anderson], it was the best. There is no mum, no father to tell us what time to sleep, it’s all our responsibility. It was the best times of our lives because we had everything. Swimming pool, tennis court, ping pong table, jacuzzi, sauna, everything."

Known for his charming personality off the pitch, Nani recalled that Ronaldo and him were just two guys who wanted to enjoy and compete with each other. He credits the experience of living with Cristiano Ronaldo as a time in his life that taught him a lot about being responsible.

Nani added:

"The best thing was we were very funny guys. We wanted to joke, we wanted to laugh, we wanted to enjoy. We also had so much fun competing with each other. I became very responsible and understood a lot of things in that time."

Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo played 54 matches together at Manchester United and were directly involved in four goals among each other.

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Cristiano Ronaldo backed for Manchester United return in new role by former teammate

After having left Manchester United under acrimonious circumstances back in 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo has been backed to return to Old Trafford in a new role by Danny Simpson.

According to Simpson, who played with Cristiano Ronaldo during the 2007/08 season at Manchester United, the Portuguese forward still cares for the club. He also feels that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner will want to come back and become one of the decision-makers at the club.

Simpson told GOAL:

"If you look at his mentality, he obviously cares about the club. I think he would say that because he would like to come back again but in another way. I don’t think he liked the way he left so he’d like to come back and make United great again, on some kind of level making decisions.

"The business side is obviously very different, but he’s also a businessman. You can’t knock that team he’s got around him. I’d love him to because I think he’s got a lot to offer, even on that side of the game going forward. Just his mentality and everything he does, he achieves it. That’s what United need."

Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr after leaving Manchester United. However, the 40-year-old has yet to win a major trophy with the Saudi Pro League club.