The legendary Rio Ferdinand of Manchester United has revealed the reason for his astonishment after visiting Cristiano Ronaldo’s residence in an open chat with boxer Anthony Joshua. The former England international was interviewed by Joshua on the YouTube channel of William Hill, what he could make happen to achieve the elite levels Ronaldo enjoys at the mere age of 36.

He had said: “I think you’ve gotta be brave – people never talk about Cristiano’s bravery.”

“He was brave to take risks, he came over to another country. He was brave to remain the person that he was and didn’t change really.

“He became obsessed with the sport that he chose and then drilled down into details which were building a team around himself.

“I went round his house one time and I walked in and he had about six/seven people sitting in his front room. I said to him, ‘Chris, who are all these people, man?’”

 

“He was like, ‘That’s my personal masseur, my nutritionist, my doctor, my physio, my chef.’”

“He had all these people and back then no one was doing was a visionary in that sense.”

“He’s just looking for every little detail that’s going to enable him to improve.”

“He’ll send me a picture and he’s doing deep water recovery sessions in the sea. He’s driven two hours to get there when he was in Turin with Juventus.”

“Other people are at home or out at dinner. He’s just looking for that extra edge.”

Ronaldo goes to great lengths to maintain his striking physique.

Of such steps, an erratic sleep schedule is one, that makes him take naps up to five times every day for two hours each time. 

His diet is sternly organic and rich in nutrients. Ferdinand played by Ronaldo’s side for six years before the latter made a deal of £80 million to shift to Real Madrid.

Ferdinand considers Portugal international to be the best player he ever shared the field with.

Ferdinand went on: “Obviously Cristiano is just ridiculous.”

“When he joined us, he was a baby, but his intelligence to grow, his obsession to get better and his desire to be the best was just relentless.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, just a man possessed to get to the top and would do anything to get there.”