Wednesday 9 November 2016 15:53, UK
Cristiano Ronaldo has what it takes to play at the top level for another 10 years, according to one of his former coaches at Manchester United.
The Portuguese star signed a bumper new deal at Real Madrid earlier this week and, despite being 31, claims he could play on for another decade.
And speaking at the #CR7Live event in Lisbon, Tony Strudwick told Sky Sports that Ronaldo possesses the physicality and talent to do just that.
"I think he wants to play for another 10 years and I wouldn't doubt that in terms of his ability to play and recover," said Strudwick, who is the head of athletic development at Old Trafford. "With that robustness and resilience he can continue to play as long as he wants.
"I came [to Manchester United] in his final two years. My first year was when we won the Champions League and beat Chelsea in the final, and at that point he'd got to a level where he was a world-class performer.
"When you talk about the top elite players like Cristiano obviously is, there's a relentless pursuit of excellence and I think we saw that from a very young age. The stories of him being the first one into training and the last one out, but also him wanting to take his game on.
"He was strong, powerful and quick, and he transferred all that onto the pitch, which was the most important thing.
"We had a fantastic working culture at Carrington that had been created by Sir Alex Ferguson all those years ago, and even in that environment Cristiano was a standalone. He would always practice on his own to ensure he had that quality practice time. He made everyone uncomfortable, not only the senior players that saw him do it but also the young players to look up to him.
"Invariably as coaches we had to drag him off [the training ground], but that was the level of discipline and professionalism required."
After being forced off due to injury during the Euro 2016 final earlier this year, Ronaldo was incredibly vocal on the touchline as he helped steer Portugal towards a 1-0 win over France. And Strudwick believes it is important for people like Ronaldo to stay in football beyond their playing career.
"You'd like to see people like Cristiano stay in the game, as long as you've got the passion for it," he said. "The incentive will be to just keep playing football but obviously he's a great talent and all those learning experiences will be invaluable for young players.
"Football needs people like Cristiano [to stay] and continue that legacy of what it takes to be a world-class player."
