Rio Ferdinand has revealed what was going through his mind after he asked one Manchester United legend about the standards at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The 46-year-old Manchester United legend broke the British record transfer fee for the second time in his career after he completed his move to Old Trafford.
Sir Alex Ferguson snapped up Rio Ferdinand from Leeds United for a £30m transfer fee and the former Red Devils defender had a sensational impact at United.
A complete Rolls-Royce defender, Ferdinand excelled in the heart of the United backline and he became a linchpin defensive figure for former manager Ferguson.
The TNT Sports pundit made a whopping 455 appearances for the Red Devils and is widely regarded as one of the best Premier League defenders of all time.
During his time at Old Trafford, Ferdinand lifted six Premier League trophies, a Champions League title and two League Cups with the Red Devils.
Another defining chapter in Ferdinand’s prolific United career came with Nemanja Vidic’s move to Old Trafford and his partnership with the Red Devils legend.
Ferdinand played the majority of his United spell under Ferguson before the legendary former Red Devils manager retired at the end of the 2012-13 campaign.
Ferdinand spoke with Man Utd legend
Rio Ferdinand played one season under former Manchester United manager David Moyes before he left Old Trafford and signed for Queens Park Rangers.
Following his move to Queens Park Rangers in 2014, former United defender Ferdinand briefly played for the club before retiring from football in 2015.
Ferdinand linked up with former United and England teammate Andy Cole, who opened up about his prolific playing career, for his YouTube channel.
Andy Cole recalled the high standards set under Sir Alex Ferguson and how the worst player in training would end up wearing a “yellow jersey” for the next week.
Responding to his fellow United legend, Ferdinand said: “It would be a HR issue these days! Players would go saying they’re bullying me.
“I remember before joining I asked Andy what it was like at Man United and the way he spoke about it used to half scare me a bit!
“I would think, ‘Is he lying?’ He would talk about players crunching each other in training, he said the intensity in England training was nothing compared to United.
“England training was hard, too, so I was thinking can I even go there?”
Cole on being at Man Utd and training
Andy Cole, who is considered one of the best Premier League strikers of all time, told Ferdinand that he relished the training sessions during his time at United.
“We loved it because you knew then that training had to be on it,” he explained.
“No-one wanted to wear that jersey for the week. Players would get vexed about wearing it.
“Imagine you’ve got to wear that yellow jersey for a week… people were getting upset. The intensity in training was always nuts.”
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