Danny Drinkwater spent several seasons at Manchester United, where Cristiano Ronaldo’s dedication and hard work in the gym saw the midfielder change the way he viewed football and inspired him to take his fitness to the next level.
Manchester-born midfielder Danny Drinkwater, who tasted Premier League success with Leicester City, began his footballing journey at Manchester United’s youth academy when he was just nine years old.
Former Chelsea player Danny Drinkwater rose through the ranks and was awarded a trainee contract in July 2006 at United. During this time, he trained with Ronaldo. Although he never made it into the United first team, Drinkwater has revealed how the Al Nassr star had a direct impact on him.
“I remember Cristiano Ronaldo when he first came in and he wasn’t as big as he is now, was he?” Danny Drinkwater shared while chatting with former United star Rio Ferdinand on the podcast ‘Rio Ferdinand Presents’.
Asked if Cristiano Ronaldo was an inspiration, Danny Drinkwater, now 35, replied: “Oh, definitely, and he (Ronaldo) had a tough start, didn’t he?. I remember Ronaldo coming back in pre-season and Ronaldo looked like he’d been smashing the gym for a year, man. And I remember then I started taking the gym seriously. Ronaldo’s actions forced me to change my attitude at United.”
Drinkwater is not the only one who has been amazed by Ronaldo’s relentless fitness regime. Former Manchester United defender Raphael Varane recently spoke about the extraordinary measures the former Real Madrid and Juventus striker takes to maintain his best physical condition, according to the Manchester Evening News (UK).
“First of all, Ronaldo has an extraordinary physique,” Raphael Varane, 31, told L’Équipe (France) in February this year. “More importantly, he understood very early on that he needed to invest in his body to achieve his ambitions. That’s the big difference with many high-level athletes: Ronaldo did it right from the start of his career when he was at Manchester United.”
Varane has been a team-mate of Ronaldo twice, first at Real Madrid from 2011 to 2018, then at United from August 2021 to November 2022. Varane won the Champions League four times with Ronaldo at Los Blancos, and insists that the fitness training, although almost obsessive, was an inspiration.
Raphael Varane added, “Cristiano Ronaldo’s competitiveness is quite incredible, and it’s going to be very difficult to copy, it’s something you either have or you don’t have. The sacrifice, the self-care, the arriving early to training is something that anyone can do, but it requires willpower.
It’s very much about the spirit. They say geniuses are almost crazy, and what Cristiano Ronaldo does is sometimes a bit crazy. It’s so intense that it’s impressive. Ronaldo has been a huge inspiration to me throughout my career.”
Meanwhile, Danny Drinkwater established himself in the United Under-18s, making 27 appearances and scoring two goals. He left United for Leicester City in 2012 and won the Premier League under Claudio Ranieri in 2016.
Danny Drinkwater then spent five seasons at Chelsea, making just 23 appearances. He will retire in 2022 after spells at Burnley, Aston Villa, Turkish club Kasimpasa and Reading.
