Former Manchester United star hails Cristiano Ronaldo as the 'most mentally tough' player he's ever played with

Former Manchester United defender Phil Neville has praised Cristiano Ronaldo's mentality and feels the Portuguese is the most mentally tough player he has ever played with. Neville notably played alongside Ronaldo at Old Trafford while the Portuguese legend was still a youngster.

They played 51 games together before Neville decided to move to Everton in 2005, while Ronaldo eventually joined Real Madrid in 2009.

However, the current Al-Nassr superstar made an impact on Neville, who spoke about him in a podcast (via The CR7 Timeline).

"Ronaldo was the biggest example of someone that, from the outside you think, God-given talent, doesn't need to work hard, just turns up on a football pitch, looks a million dollars, and just goes out there. There was only an hour in the day where he was coached," Neville said.

"The rest of it was him self driven, getting to training early, doing his weights, doing his abdominals, doing his massage, going home, employing a chef to look after his nutrition, going to bed for three hours in an afternoon," he added.

Neville continued talking about Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United, saying:

"Ultimately, the day in the life of Ronaldo, for me, is a perfect example of... When you see him doing the stepovers, after every training session, training session finished, extra training that he would take the ball round the whole circumference of the Carrington training ground..."

"Doing his stepovers, jogging pace, walking pace, track bikes, step bikes, Cruyff's, and that was like 3K around the training ground, day before the game. And people say, 'Oh, God-given talent.' No, that lad used to watch YouTube clips of a skill he liked, and then he would go and practice it, then he would take it out to the training ground," he continued.

The Manchester United legend went on to add:

"That lad got absolutely booted. Every single day, off Scholes, my brother, Keane, Van Nistelrooy, that lad used to get up, never moan one bit. The most mentally tough player I've ever played with."

Cristiano Ronaldo notably won his first Ballon d'Or while at Manchester United in 2008, going on to win it four more times as a Real Madrid player.

The forward's mentality certainly helped him become one of the world's greatest-ever players, as he has scored a truly remarkable 759 goals in 1013 club appearances.

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Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo set to lead Portugal in the EURO 2024

Although he is already 39 years old, the former Manchester United striker is still at the top of his game, and he looks set to lead Portugal to the Euros in Germany this summer.

He notably helped Portugal win the Euros in 2016 and is currently the tournament's leading goalscorer with 15 goals. Ronaldo played his first Euros when he was just a 19-year-old in 2004, with Portugal reaching the final before losing to Greece. The upcoming edition will see him feature in the competition for the sixth time.

Ronaldo also holds the record for the most appearances in the competition with 25. Despite his advancing age, the Real Madrid legend is not the oldest player to play as teammate Pepe is currently 41 years old.