Rio Ferdinand has revealed that he and other Manchester United stars bullied Cristiano Ronaldo excessively during the Portuguese's first adventure as a teenager at "Old Trafford".

Sir Alex Ferguson convinced Ronaldo to move from Portugal to Manchester at the age of 18, after a very good performance at that time in a friendly between United and Sporting Lisbon, reports KosovaPress.

His fantastic moves rewarded the Portuguese superstar with an immediate inclusion in United's first team, but Ronaldo lacked physicality, and Ferdinand admitted it was up to him and the United legends to prepare him for English football.

Ferdinand explained the role he and Quinton Fortune played in the young Ronaldo's development, saying: “Me and a guy called Quinton Fortune, we teased him a lot. Ronaldo was much younger than us at the time, and we constantly teased him, but we just wanted to help him, prepare him."

Ronaldo then won three consecutive Premier League titles alongside Ferdinand between 2007 and 2009, before he left for Real Madrid.

The Portuguese star was destroying defenders in England and across Europe with his speed and skill, but he couldn't beat Ferdinand at the ping pong table.

Ferdinand explained how he always beat the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, and that Ronaldo's anger was so great that the Portuguese star almost cried.

"We played every day before training, as part of the preparation. I was destroying it. If it had been shown on television, it would have broken records. He almost cried, he was very competitive", said Ferdinand.

Ronaldo returned to United for a second spell at the age of 37, but saw his two-year contract terminated after just one season following a bombastic interview which saw him criticize the club and current manager Erik ten Hag.