Once upon a time in England, Mads Timm and Cristiano Ronaldo were two youngsters trying to make names for themselves in a star-studded Manchester United team.
Whilst the first never quite made it, the latter became one of the greatest footballers of all time, breaking numerous records in his extraordinary career.
Nevertheless, both men shared early struggles during their early days at Old Trafford, as the Dane admitted in his own autobiography called Red Devil.
The Sun posted some extracts from the book, and the Portuguese was naturally mentioned. Timm explains how CR7 proved to be mentally strong enough to defy all the “bullying” he received from some of the senior squad members.
“He was quite extraordinary as a footballer, and as a person,” Timm writes in his book Red Devil.
“Like me, he was bullied when he came to the club. With his hair – which he soon got clipped – and with his almost acrobatic attempt to impress the coaches.
“He could stand and do 10-15 step overs before he tried to dribble past the opponent.
“Pass now, just pass, dammit,’ shouted Gary Neville and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer constantly to him when we had reserve team matches together.
“The special thing about Cristiano Ronaldo was that he immediately took the fight against the hierarchy. And he won it.
“He was completely indifferent to the rest of his teammates. He gave no room for others. It was me, me, me. Cristiano Ronaldo. CR7.”
The Juventus star ended up leaving Man United as a club legend in 2009, joining Real Madrid for a record breaking fee at the time.
The 36-year-old is still going strong, but it remains to be seen whether he’s staying in Turin for a fourth season or taking his football elsewhere.
