Rio Ferdinand tells Anthony Joshua why Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best ever

Rio Ferdinand has outlined to Anthony Joshua just what has enabled Cristiano Ronaldo to distinguish himself as one of the greatest players of all time.

The former England and Manchester United defender discussed the Portuguese superstar’s qualities with AJ ahead of the world heavyweight champion’s fight with Oleksandr Usyk this Saturday.

Ronaldo, who scored his fourth goal in three appearances since rejoining the Red Devils in the 2-1 victory over West Ham last weekend, was praised by Ferdinand for his “relentless” approach to improving.

"Obviously Cristiano Ronaldo is just ridiculous," Ferdinand said in a conversation for William Hill. "When he joined us he was a baby but his intelligence to grow and his obsession to get better and his desire to be the best was just relentless.

“I've never seen anything like it, he was just a man possessed to get to the top and would do anything to get there.”

While Ferdinand added that Ronaldo took chances with his “bravery” to help himself fulfil his potential.

“I think you’ve got to be brave. People don’t talk about Cristiano’s bravery. He was brave to take risks, by which I mean he came over to another country. He was brave to remain the person that he was, he didn’t change really. He adapted, yes, but he didn’t change his core foundations. He became an obsessive with the sport he chose, and then drilled down into details.

“He built a team around himself, ie I went around his house one time and he had six or seven people sitting in his front room. I asked him who are all these people and he said it was his personal masseur, his nutritionist, his doctor, his physio, his chef. Back then, nobody was doing that in our game so he was a visionary in that sense. He knew what it was going to take.

“If people we laughing at him for doing extras at one time, by the time he became World Player of the Year they were saying they were going to copy that.”