The myth that Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Manchester United as a lean, scraggy boy and became a powerful, muscular man has been dispelled.
Ronaldo joined United from Sporting Lisbon as a teenager and quickly had to adjust to the pace and physical nature of the Premier League. Although the Portuguese prospect showed immense potential, questions were raised over whether he would cope.
But quickly Ronaldo silenced the doubters and showed why he believed he could go to the very top. Now 37, the forward still looks physically capable of competing at the very top level for several years to come.
And former United trainer Mick Clegg has revealed that Ronaldo has always had a great physique, even when he arrived at Old Trafford despite the popular belief that his entire appearance changes at the club. He told The Independent : “I never saw a scrawny kid.
“That kid had a fantastic physique, a fantastic ability to move.” Clegg worked with Ronaldo between 2003 and 2006 and helped him become the athlete that he is today, he continued: “All he needed was time.
“People sometimes ask for ‘Cristiano’s routine’, his chest routine or whatever, but what are they talking about? It’s five and a half years. It was five and a half years of the hardest work I’ve ever seen from any athlete ever.
“It was never scrawny, what he wanted to do was get the right amount of the strength, the power, the skill, the cognitive processes, and all these things then come together. But it’s also about confidence.”
Ronaldo is now a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, has won the Premier League three times, the Champions League five times as well as numerous other team-based and individual accolades. To many, he is the best to ever grace a football pitch – and even those who don’t share that belief appreciate that the no.7 is one of the best.
And Clegg believes that there were telltale signs that the then-left winger had the mentality of a winner based on how he approached certain fixtures as a youngster. He continued: “You can see how it came together for him.
“Some players practice something and then take it into a game, and if it doesn’t work, they'll never use it again. Cristiano practices something, then he’ll take it into training games, then take it into a game against teams at the bottom of the league, and he would hone his skills there.
“He wouldn’t use it in the big games against Chelsea or whoever until he was confident with it. And he never, ever lost confidence he could make whatever he’s working on work.”
Ronaldo has struggled to set the Premier League alight since returning in the summer, though his teammates have also underperformed massively. CR7 is set to be the only striker at United at the end of the season with Edinson Cavani’s contract expiring and it remains to be seen whether the Red Devils sign a forward that can thrive and learn alongside him.
