Former Manchester United defender Danny Simpson has revealed that Rio Ferdinand and other teammates used to tease Cristiano Ronaldo relentlessly during their time together at Old Trafford. The disclosure comes as the 41-year-old forward returns to Al-Nassr after a week of headlines over his behaviour.
Ronaldo's Portugal walkout and apology
Ronaldo publicly walked out of the Portuguese national team following a row with boss Jorge Jesus over his playing time. While he has apologised in the aftermath, criticism has continued.
Former teammate Ferdinand, however, has remained on Ronaldo's side and staunchly backed the ex-United forward. But it appears that he was once no stranger to winding the Portuguese striker up during his spell at Old Trafford.
Simpson on the teasing
Speaking to i News, Simpson said: "Look who's laughing now! He copped a fair bit of stick at Manchester United for that [having a private chef]. Rio [Ferdinand] and the rest used to tease him relentlessly.
"But he knew how to look after himself. That's why he's had the career he's had. He's the most complete player I've ever seen."
"He would spend hours in the gym after training. Back then, we all knew how good he was. He was just obsessed with being the best."
Carragher and Neville weigh in
Ferdinand has actually been called out by Jamie Carragher over recent days for his comments about Ronaldo's ongoing row. Speaking on The Overlap Daily, the former Liverpool defender said: "People think it's good to be close to people in the game, but this is where it becomes a problem.
"People like Piers Morgan and Rio Ferdinand, who are big people in the media whether you like them or not, are embarrassing themselves with the nonsense that they're coming out with because they know Ronaldo. You can know someone and try to look after them, but you cannot defend the indefensible."
In response to that, Gary Neville said: "My view was that I would never criticise Ole Gunnar Solskjær because he conducted himself with great class, whether he was winning or losing. With Cristiano, it's difficult because I love him, but I can't watch what happened at United in his second period and then see him make a statement like that without saying something. He [Ronaldo] has to be pulled up on that and told [that it isn't acceptable].
"The problem is, who is going to tell him? He isn't going to listen to me or you [Jamie Carragher], but I can't approve of that statement or pretend it was a good thing to do. If you love Ronaldo, it makes him more difficult to like; if you don't like him, it makes you dislike him even more.
"I don't think it's irretrievable. In another year, when he has retired, we will look back at his greatness and his football, and people might not remember this ending.
"When you have a billion pounds in the bank, the achievements he has had and the power he has, you feel you're unbreakable, you feel you're unstoppable. You think you can dictate to a federation or a manager what they should say. I'm glad the manager stood his ground. If he had read those eight points out [in Ronaldo's social media statement], he [Ronaldo] would have lost a lot of his soul."
