Cristiano Ronaldo's former trainer reveals the Man Utd player he immediately set out to better

Cristiano Ronaldo's upcoming record-breaking sixth World Cup appearance is no surprise to the man who helped set him on his way at the start of his Manchester United career.

Ronaldo may be 41, but the iconic superstar has kept himself in such supreme physical condition that he is set to captain Portugal in the USA this summer and make history in the process.

No player has featured at six World Cup finals, with Ronaldo, his rival Lionel Messi, Paolo Maldini, Lothar Matthaus and Miroslav Klose all having played in five tournaments.

Although Ronaldo is no longer playing at the highest level in Europe, having moved to the Saudi Pro League with Al-Hilal, the forward is set to lead his country on the world stage in the USA next month.

One person who is not shocked by Ronaldo's longevity is former Manchester United power development coach Mick Clegg, who worked with the superstar when he joined the Red Devils from Sporting Lisbon for £12.24million in 2003.

Clegg, 68, worked one-to-one with Ronaldo on his physical development, strength, conditioning and overall fitness until the five-time Ballon d'Or winner left United for Real Madrid in 2009 for a then-world-record fee of £80m.

And Clegg, who spent 11 years at United and who still has former players like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer drop by his Manchester gym, hailed Ronaldo as a “genius” and said his dedication, work ethic and focus set him apart from any other player.

“Cristiano was the best trainer I ever worked with,” Clegg told SPORTbible. “I've never seen anybody like him. Everything he has got out of football, he deserved it wholeheartedly.

“He wanted to learn from day one. As a young apprentice, he treated people really well – coaches, team-mates, staff. He did his own stuff that he knew he wanted to do, but he bought into virtually everything that I was doing as well. He was a masterful apprentice, if you like.

“He knew how to do it, how to listen, how to learn, how to put concepts together and build a pattern that he could work on that would last him – and it has lasted him. He's an incredible guy."

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Ronaldo's approach to fitness and training is well known today, the Portuguese becoming an inspiration to others, but Clegg says he was already well ahead in his thinking even when he joined United as an 18-year-old.

“I call him a genius. These mathematicians and other people like that, they may be very clever, but a player moving at 20 miles per hour, running with a ball at his feet and scoring the goals he did, that's genius as well.

“You can have tremendous skills and tricks, but you need the power, the strength of mentality, the resilience, all the different things you put together to become a top-class player.

“He recognised how important injury prevention was, he recognised how important sleep was, diet, all of these things - he put the whole package together very early on, before other people had, which had never been seen before. He worked on everything possible to be the best.

“Ronaldo has carried that pattern that he created to every other club he has played for and that's why he achieved what he did and why he's still playing at 41. Some of the skills he had were above others, some of the speeds he could reach very quickly were above others.

“But it's the ability to be fast and have skills together in a game that makes you stand out. To be able to do that continuously throughout a game – he was an absolute nightmare for opponents.

“A mentality like Ronaldo's is learnt over years and years. Too many players have talent and think that's enough. They work hard, but they don't work superiorly hard like he does.”

Ronaldo wanted to be better than Giggs

Clegg said Ronaldo wanted to emulate Ryan Giggs when he arrived at United, but took the winger's professionalism and dedication to a whole new level with his meticulous training routines, diet and attention to detail in terms of preparation and recovery.

“I worked with Ryan and early on in his career he had some injury problems, his hamstring in particular,” said Clegg. “But he ended up playing until he was 40 and Cristiano is still playing at 41. There's a reason why these players play for that long. It's because they had principles that were laid down very early on.

“When Ronaldo came to United, he said 'I know Ryan is the one who uses the gym the most, so I want to know everything he does there – but I want to do it better'. So he virtually copied Ryan at the start, but he carried it all on – injury prevention, how to look after yourself following a game, all of these particular details. That's what set him apart.”

Clegg also, of course, worked with Wayne Rooney at United, and though the two players were often compared at the time, Clegg says Rooney was never interested in trying to match his team-mate, either in terms of his approach to training or how he was perceived by the wider world.

“Rooney, to me, was just a pure footballer,” said Clegg. “He just wanted to play football.

"Wayne recognised that Cristiano was unique, that he was above everyone else. I remember Cristiano was ranked the No.1 player in the world and Wayne was about 17th and I said to him, 'how are you going to get higher up the list?' and he said 'I'm not bothered about that. I play my game, I love the way I play and I'm happy with that'.

“Wayne was just a total footballer. He was naturally fit, a strong, powerful lad, but he didn't feel he needed to take on board all of this stuff [power and conditioning].

“How lucky was I to be at United at that time, working with those two and all of the other great players there? What a fantastic experience."

By David McDonnell