RIO FERDINAND has SNUBBED Cristiano Ronaldo when he was asked to name the best finisher he ever played with at the club.
Ronaldo racked up 145 goals in his 346 appearances for United and would go on to score an astounding 450 goals in 436 appearances for Real Madrid, making many believe he would be Rio’s go-to answer.
YouTube: Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVEFerdinand named his best finisher without hesitation[/caption]
ReutersAnd it wasn’t Ronaldo[/caption]
But when asked by ManUtd.com who the best finisher he ever played with was, Ferdinand said Ruud van Nistelrooy without a moment’s hesitation.
Ferdinand backed up his claim by saying: “I think all the other strikers would say that as well, seriously.”
In fact, Ronaldo did not even get a mention in the conversation as Hargreaves and Ferdinand went on to mention Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Wayne Rooney as their other top picks for great finishers.
Van Nistelrooy is commonly regarded as one of the deadliest strikers to play in the Premier League.
And for Manchester United, van Nistelrooy hit 150 goals in 219 appearances before eventually moving on to Real Madrid.
The Dutchman sits just outside of the top 10 in the list of top goal scorers for United and has also scored five more than Ronaldo.
In fairness to Ronaldo, that would have been because he played as a right midfielder during the majority of his first stint at Manchester United when managed by Sir Alex Ferguson.
It was only at Real Madrid when his game began to be so focused on goals rather than creating and overall team play.
AFPvan Nistelrooy was Rio’s preferred choice[/caption]
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The move in 2009 saw Ronaldo move to the left-wing, allowing him to cut in and score.
As he got older, he became an out and out number nine similar to those mentioned by Ferdinand and Hargreaves.
He would go on to play in this position when he moved to Juventus in 2018, on his return to Manchester United in 2021 and finally with his move to Al Nassr in January.
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