Nani recalls Cristiano Ronaldo, the competitive flatmate
Nani shared an apartment with Cristiano Ronaldo at the start of his Manchester United career and his housemate made sure he was always on his toes.
Cristiano Ronaldo's competitive nature made sharing a flat with him an interesting experience for former Manchester United team-mate Nani. Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo generously invited compatriot Nani and Brazilian Anderson to move in with him when the pair first arrived at Old Trafford in 2007. But Ronaldo, who was by then an established star for United, liked to keep his housemates on their toes.
Fun and games, flat sharing with Cristiano
"We were living for a month in the same house with Cristiano," Nani told UTD Podcast. "It was fun for a month. We'd challenge ourselves a lot. We had some great, funny moments and helped each other so much. That's why it was not so hard for me in the beginning and for Anderson too. Cristiano was very competitive. When you're staying in his house for a day, it means he challenges you at any time. He had a swimming pool, a tennis court and ping-pong table. Sometimes, it's just competing to see who knows who's telling the truth, or who is right about something. Every time, there was a discussion to see who was right or who was better. The only time we were not playing was the night time, we'd sit on the sofa talking and Cristiano would just disappear [to bed]. We'd learn because me and Ando would be very tired when we woke up. He'd already been up two hours earlier, checking the news and would say: 'Okay, let's go'. He was the only one who had a car then, in the beginning, so we had to be ready to go with him. Fantastic moments and great memories we have."
Winning the league with United flatmates
Ronaldo won three Premier League titles during his time at United, winning two of them alongside Nani and Anderson.