MANCHESTER UNITED legend Rio Ferdinand has revealed he texts Cristiano Ronaldo ‘most days’.
And the evergreen CR7 even messages BT Sport pundit Ferdinand to request footage of his goals.
Most recently the 36-year-old reportedly asked Ferdinand to send him BT’s videos of his two goals against Atalanta in the Champions League.
On the friendship between the former team-mates, Ferdinand, 42, told The Athletic: “We just have a good relationship right now.
“We’ve always stayed in contact. Sometimes it’s been sporadic and now it’s back to texting most days.”
And Ferdinand has previously revealed CR7 texted him saying he ‘knew’ he would score in the dramatic Champions League victory against Villarreal.
But Ferdinand admitted he was hard on Ronaldo at times as a player after the Portuguese superstar moved to Old Trafford in 2003.
Although the centre-back turned pundit does believe his straight-talking has helped his relationship with Ronaldo to develop.
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Ferdinand said: “I’ve always told him when he wasn’t doing well and I’ve always told him when he’s brilliant.
“Everyone sees me say how brilliant he is because I’m on TV and invariably he produces, so you can’t say nothing else.
“But we’ve had our moments, especially at the club when he was a kid, where you would say, ‘You’re doing wrong, come on’.
“Great players, who want to improve, respect that type of stuff.”
Ferdinand and Ronaldo spent seven years as team-mates at Old Trafford, winning three league titles, two league cups and the Champions League together.
And Ferdinand believes Ronaldo’s stunning start back to life at Manchester United means he is back in the running for the Ballon d’Or gong next year.
The five-time winner isn’t currently among the favourites for this year’s award.
But after nine goals in 12 games this season, Ferdinand believes the ageing Ronaldo could yet have another Ballon d’Or left in him.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
