Cristiano Ronaldo’s ex-colleague from Juventus has disclosed the profound influence he exerted upon joining the Serie A team.
At 39, Ronaldo is gearing up for Euro 2024 with Portugal, aiming to recapture the title they won in 2016.
- Bernardo Silva names the two Arsenal players he wishes he could play alongside
- Mbappe names Arsenal star ‘among the best’ in the Premier League ahead of Euros
- Lionel Messi reveals last club he will play for ahead of Copa America
The ex-Manchester United forward, now with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, set a new single-season scoring record there last term with 35 goals.
Before his Middle Eastern stint, Ronaldo had a challenging return to Man United after transferring from Juventus for around £14.3 million—a steal for someone who netted 81 times in 98 matches for Juventus.
Along with clinching two Serie A crowns, two Supercoppa Italiana, and a Coppa Italia. His high standards for teammates were evident.
In an interview with FIVE, Sami Khedira, who shared the field with Ronaldo at both Juve and Real Madrid, reflected on the immediate impact Ronaldo made in Italy.
“Cristiano, when he came to Juventus, of course he had his ego,” he said.
“Federico Chiesa was like a fantastic young player. He had his phone in his hand and was walking into the gym – Cristiano looked at him like ‘what are you doing and where are you going?’.
“Going to the gym with your phone – listen you don’t need your phone, go in the gym and work.
“Don’t do Instagram and don’t do any TikTok. Focus on your work.
“The young players were like, wow. But even the quality of training when he came to Juventus, it was like a different level.
“Every single shot on target was like I needed to score. Let’s not play about money but play about a bottle of wine or a dinner. He was a competitive guy but also really friendly, nice and humble. In my point of view.”
