Rafael van der Vaart gave an unexpected reason why Cristiano Ronaldo is the hardest working footballer he played with.
The Dutchman played with the now-Al Nassr striker at Real Madrid in the late 2000s, under Manuel Pellegrini.
Current Los Blancos star Kylian Mbappe’s start to life in Madrid since his blockbuster move from Paris Saint Germain in the summer was being discussed on talkSPORT’s ‘The LineUp’ this week.
Van der Vaart, a guest on this week’s show, was then asked if Ronaldo was the biggest name at the club during his time there.
The former striker said: “He never left his house!
“I always say as a joke, Ronaldo is the only player that I never saw his willy!”
Those in the studio couldn’t help but crack up as Van der Vaart gave his rather unexpected reasoning.
“He was the first one on the training [pitch]!” he continued.
“And the last one who went.”
While Van der Vaart perhaps gave a little too much information, Ronaldo’s work ethic is the stuff of legend.
The Portugal sensation has one five Ballon d’Ors, as well as 24 golden boots, a Puskas award and five Champions League titles.
And even with the big 40 looming on the horizon, Ronaldo personifies the term ‘age is just a number’.
“First of all his body, wow!” Van der Vaart continued.
“A machine. He was a little bit ahead of his time, players now are the same.
“But his training in the gym, food, sleep.
“For him that was more important than training extra hard.”
Ronaldo and Van der Vaart did not claim silverware together, and Van der Vaart says he could see how much Ronaldo cared.
Speaking highly of his former teammate, he said: “Ronaldo was so unbelievably selfish, if we won 6-0 and he did not score, he was not happy.
“When we lose but he scored twice, it’d be alright!”
Asked what he thought of Ronaldo appearing to play for himself, he said: “No, no! It was just that he needs to score.”
He continued: “It was the same with Ruud van Nistelrooy, I had so many chats with him and it was so interesting because he was always like ‘I need my goals! I need my goals!’”