“He would sometimes take a bag of balls and continue practising on another pitch alone” – Silvestre on Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘desire’ after Manchester United move

Ex-Manchester United star Mikael Silvestre has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo was 'addicted to his desire' to become the best player in the world following his move from Sporting.

Silvestre, who shared the dressing room with the Portuguese for five years, disclosed that his young teammate put in extra hours after practice to hone his skills.

The Portugal international joined Manchester United for the first time in 2003, securing a €19million switch from Sporting. Between 2003 and 2009, the forward scored 118 times and provided 68 assists, winning three Premier Leagues, one Champions League, and an FA Cup. He also won the Ballon d’Or in 2008, beating Lionel Messi and Fernando Torres to the award.

Silvestre, who included the 37-year-old in his line-up of great teammates, has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo’s desire to be the best was there even in his early United days. Speaking to FourFourTwo, the former left-back said:

“Cristiano was extremely skilful, great in the air and also super-fast, both with and without the ball. After arriving at United from Sporting, he became addicted to his desire of becoming the best player in the world – he gradually grew into that mindset.”

“After training, he would sometimes take a bag of balls and continue practising on another pitch alone, to improve his game. What’s amazing with him is that he’s been able to consistently play at the very highest level since joining United in 2003.”

Here is the Silvestre’s greatest-ever teammates XI in full:

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

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Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo leads his country to Nations League win

Having started the 1-1 draw (June 2) with Spain on the bench, Cristiano Ronaldo was deemed fit enough to start against Switzerland on Sunday (June 5). Portugal needed a win in their second Group A2 fixture and the man from Madeira delivered.

Ronaldo was involved in the build-up play, kept the opposition on his toes with his off-the-ball movement and scored a brilliant brace in a 4-0 win.

The Manchester United No. 7 scored the opening goal in the 35th minute, converting from a selfless Diogo Jota cutback.

Four minutes later, he struck again, this time turning in the rebound after Diego Jota drew a save from Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. With the brace, Ronaldo took his international goal tally to 117, with 100 being non-penalty goals.