Rio Ferdinand ‘rang’ his ‘mates’ after he couldn’t believe what two Man Utd legends did in his first summer at Old Trafford

Add as preferred source on Google

Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he was blown away by what two former Manchester United teammates did during his “first-ever pre-season” at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson brought Rio Ferdinand to Old Trafford after Manchester United signed him from rivals Leeds United for a £30m fee in 2002.

Ferdinand, who was a British record signing for the second time, became a key defensive figure for legendary former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

The 45-year-old former United defender went on to make 455 appearances at the Red Devils and enjoyed incredible silverware success at Old Trafford.

Ferdinand lifted six Premier League titles, a Champions League trophy and two League Cups during his time under Ferguson at the Red Devils.

The footballer-turned-pundit spent the large majority of his United playing career under Ferguson, with Ferdinand playing one season under David Moyes.

READ MORE: Paul Scholes names Man Utd legend who was ‘big influence on all of us,’ his ‘actions’ spoke louder than words ever could

Ferdinand talks two Man Utd legends

Rio Ferdinand’s illustrious playing spell at Manchester United ended in 2014 and he briefly played for Queens Park Rangers before retiring in 2015.

The TNT Sports pundit recently linked up with former United and England teammate David Beckham and Ferdinand talked about his first summer at Old Trafford.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: “Something again, and a lot of people, most people, won’t know about you, and you’re talking about work rate, I remember that was the lasting big memories I have of you outside of the pitch… my first-ever pre-season we done the bleep test.”

Responding to Ferdinand, David Beckham laughed before he said: “You weren’t great at it.”

Ferdinand admitted that he was “poor” with his performance in the bleep test, but he was more struck by how United legends Beckham and Dwight Yorke performed.

“I was poor – I’d just flew in from Ayia Napa! So, I weren’t going to be ready for that,” he added.

“But it looked like you had trained all summer, you finished, you and Yorkie completed the bleep test.

“I was standing there, I rang my mates after and said, ‘You wouldn’t believe this, these two guys, I don’t know what they’ve done all summer but they ain’t done what I’ve done and they’ve completed the bleep test.’”

READ MORE: Man Utd legend David Beckham names ‘one of the hardest trainers’ he played alongside, he was a human cheat code

Beckham reacts to Ferdinand’s bleep test story

David Beckham had a legendary playing spell at Old Trafford and was a key part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s iconic treble-winning side in the 1998-99 season.

The 49-year-old former United and Real Madrid superstar shot to stardom during his time at the Red Devils and had a prolific playing career in football.

Beckham lifted six Premier League titles, a Champions League and two FA Cups with United after emerging in the 1990s as one of the famed ‘Class of ’92’ stars.

The former England international reacted to Ferdinand’s bleep test story by admitting that it was “stubbornness” that made sure he did well in it.

“Do you know what? It’s stubbornness in that bleep test,” Beckham said.

“It’s all about, well, you have to have a little bit of stamina, obviously, but more importantly for me, it was stubbornness, I wanted to be the last one to finish.

“I was watching players drop out, I was watching players come in year after year and they’d be more athletes and I’d be thinking, ‘Okay, I’m going to have to step it up again.’”

When asked if he was training before pre-season started, the United legend added: “No. I just weren’t doing what you were doing.”