Cristiano Ronaldo's desire to get the top has led to him earning plenty of admiration but it did land him some stick at Manchester United according to former teammate Darren Fletcher.
The 34-year old, still playing for Stoke City in the Championship, was a guest on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football alongside Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher last night.
He revealed that some of the Portuguese's training methods did prompt laughs from the members of the group at time but he did garner the respect of his peers because of his obsession with perfection.
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"Ronaldo had a mind-set that he was going to be the best player in the world from the first day he came into the club,' the Scotsman said on Sky Sports.
"He ramped up training early on. At first people loved the desire but he did get stick for it."
"People respected it and liked that mentality of wanting to be the best.
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"There were times he was putting ankle weights on for training, doing fast feet and the lads were laughing at him. But it didn't deter him."
It would be fair to say that CR7 has done alright for him. Just the five Ballon d'Or wins to show for his unrivalled determination.
An 18-year old Ronaldo arrived at Manchester United as a scrawny kid with a dodgy Spaghetti-like trim but also wanting to become the best player in the world - in fact he even told a United a coach exactly that on his first day.
Mick Clegg, who served as Manchester United's former power development coach, has a quite incredible tale about the time Ronaldo rocked up in the club's gym for the first time.
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"I was sat there on my own, and he walks in dead early, around 8am, way before anyone else is there," he told The Times.
"He came up to me and said, 'I want to be the best player in the world and I want you to help me. No, I am going to be the best player in the world and I want you to help me.'"
That's what you call elite mentality...
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