‘Sometimes he’ll grab a bag of balls and continue training on another pitch alone’ – Silvestre on Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘wish’ after Manchester United move

For sale at-Manchester United star Mikael Silvestre has stated that Cristiano Ronaldo was ‘addicted to the desire’ to be the best player in the world after moving from Sporting.

Silvestre, who shared a dressing room with the Portuguese for five years, revealed that his young team-mate spent extra hours after practice honing his skills.

The Portugal international first joined Manchester United in 2003, winning a €19 million transfer from Sporting. Between 2003 and 2009, the striker scored 118 goals and provided 68 assists, winning 3 Premier League titles, 1 Champions League and 1 FA Cup. He also won the 2008 Ballon d’Or, beating Lionel Messi and Fernando Torres to accept the award.

Silvestre, who has included the 37-year-old in his list of great teammates, has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo’s desire to be the best has been around since his early days at United. Talking to FourFourTwoformer left-back said:

“Cristiano is incredibly skillful, great in the air and super fast, both with and without the ball. After coming to United from Sporting, he became addicted to the desire to be the best player in the world – he gradually developed that thought”.

“After training, he sometimes holds a bag of balls and continues to practice on another field alone, to improve his game. What’s great with him is that he’s been able to consistently play at the highest level since joining United in 2003.”

Here are the full lineup of Silvestre XI’s greatest teammates ever:

Edwin van der Sar; Lilian Thuram, Jaap Stam, Marcel Desailly, Javier Zanetti; Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Zinedine Zidane; Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Thierry Henry

Manchester United’s best player, Cristiano Ronaldo, takes his country to the Nations League title

Starting a 1-1 draw (June 2) with Spain on the bench, Cristiano Ronaldo is thought to be fit enough to start against Switzerland on Sunday (June 5). Portugal needed a win in their group A2 second game and the Madeira man delivered.

Ronaldo was involved in building the play, keeping opponents on their toes with his free-to-play moves and scoring a superb brace in the 4-0 win.

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Manchester United’s No 7 scored the opening goal in the 35th minute, converting from a selfless cut by Diogo Jota.

Four minutes later, he scored again, this time recovering after Diego Jota saved Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. With the brace, Ronaldo has brought his total international goals to 117, of which 100 have come without penalties.