Cristiano Ronaldo's brutal response to player who said he could have been as good as him and Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo responded ruthlessly to a number of bold claims made by former Sporting Lisbon winger Fabio Paim on a podcast.

Paim has previously confessed that he felt "overwhelmed" by the expectations put upon a professional footballer.

During his career, some of the very best clubs in Europe were interested in signing him, including Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid, who all regularly attended games he featured in.

However, the Estoril-born forward faded from the spotlight following a forgettable loan spell in the Premier league with Chelsea that featured several appearances at youth level.

Despite this, in November last year, Paim made some bold claims, comparing himself to two of the greatest footballers of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Speaking on a podcast hosted by PT Clipes, Paim claimed he would be on par with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in terms of career achievements if he had "half of Cristiano's head".

He then made another shocking comment about the Ballon d'Or trophy.

"Cristiano Ronaldo should offer me one of his Ballon d’Ors," Paim said. "I went to Sporting when I was seven years old, I grew up there. They were years of glory in which I won everything I could.

"I didn't reach where I could have reached, but I marked a generation. If people don't forget it's because I marked them."

Paim went on to explain his Ballon d'Or comment. "I said when I was happy that I thought Cristiano Ronaldo could offer me a Ballon d'Or, but it was with humility," he added.

"If I had half of Cristiano's head, it wouldn't be him and Messi, It would be me, him and Messi and maybe he wouldn't have won the Ballon d'Or that he has. Maybe one of them was mine."

But Ronaldo was quick to shut down Paim's claims, commenting on an Instagram post of the podcast clip: "Wtf. 👀👀👀who is this guy?"

Image credit: Instagram/ptclipes

In October last year, Paim gave a telling insight into his how he viewed his career.

“I was really special. I must be humble but this is the truth," he told The Sun. “Unfortunately back then there was not Instagram or Facebook, nothing was recorded like nowadays but I strongly and honestly believe that until today there was no other like me with the same quality I had.

“Cristiano, for all his effort and hard work, went to a level he deserves. But when I was playing, if I had the same effort and commitment, I would be better than him. If I speak about technique, I was better. I was a small Ronaldinho. But as we can see, it's not the technique that leads us to wherever.

“But yes at that time I was better than Cristiano. I believe he should give me one of his Ballons d'Or!”

Image credit: Getty

Paim added: “Unfortunately for me, I was born with talent. As I was earning lots of money, I got the illusion I didn't need the effort. It is impossible for a person like me to be a millionaire.

“I regret some of my choices. Now I'm at a different age so can see the picture differently. The talent was there but my mind wasn't. My head was on women and partying, everywhere else apart from football.

“I played some matches but my body was not in its best shape and didn’t respond to what people were demanding from me because if I could, I would have been at Barcelona or Real Madrid.”