Rio Ferdinand snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo when asked to pick the best finisher at Manchester United.
Back in 2002, Ferdinand joined United from Leeds in a deal worth £30 million.
The central defender went on to win six Premier League titles and a Champions League during a largely successful spell with the Old Trafford club.In a recent interview with Manutd.com, Ferdinand was asked to pick the best finisher he played with at United.
He said: “Ruud for me. I think all the other strikers (he’s played with) would agree with that, as well.
“Ole is up there, he was a thinking finisher. His finishes were always calm and he was great at instinctive things but I have to go with Ruud. He was clinical and the most ruthless finisher I’ve played with.”
Dutchman Ruud Van Nistelrooy is often regarded as one of the deadliest strikers to ever play in the Premier League.
In 219 appearances for the Red Devils, Van Nistelrooy managed to find the back of the net on 150 occasions.
Van Nistelrooy then left Old Trafford for Real Madrid in 2006.
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.Having scored 118 goals in 292 matches during his first spell at the club, Ronaldo scored a further 27 goals in 54 games when he made an emotional return in 2021.
However, the five-time Ballon d’Or’s second stint with United ended in dramatic fashion after his explosive tell-all interview with Piers Morgan.
In November 2022, it was confirmed that Ronaldo had left the club with immediate effect.
The Portuguese legend went on to become the first big name to sign for a Saudi Professional League side after he joined Al Nasser.
Since then, clubs in Saudi Arabia have been spending big in a bid to lure some of Europe’s biggest names to the Middle East.
This summer, the likes of Karim Benzema, Neymar, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Riyad Mahrez all ditched European football for Saudi Arabia.
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