Rio Ferdinand Shares Cristiano Ronaldo's Nickname for Him and Why CR7 Keeps His Guard Up in Man Utd WhatsApp Group

Table of Contents

• Why Cristiano Ronaldo is Wary of Messaging Rio Ferdinand on WhatsApp
• Shared History Between Ferdinand and Ronaldo
• Ferdinand's Transition to Media
• Rio Meets Podcast
• Controlling the Narrative
• Ronaldo's Brand and Public Image
• Ronaldo's Nickname for Ferdinand
• Ferdinand's Dream Interviewee
• Manchester United Tickets and Packages

RIO FERDINAND has disclosed why his former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo hesitates to message him on WhatsApp.

The two shared the prestigious pitch for six seasons from 2003 to 2009, during Ronaldo's first tenure at United.

Rio Ferdinand has shared the nickname that Cristiano Ronaldo has given himCredit: Getty Ferdinand mentioned that Ronaldo joked about needing to be cautious with his words around himCredit: YouTube/ UR · Cristiano

The duo maintains a group chat with other football legends.

While Ronaldo continues to break records at the age of 40 for both club and country, Ferdinand has transitioned into media after retiring from professional football.

Ferdinand, 46, has been working in media and also launched his own podcast, Rio Meets, where he interviews former footballers.

Guests on his podcast have included ex-professionals, among others, and he has also had discussions with various notable figures.

In an interview with The Times , Ferdinand acknowledged that his conversation with the United defender was one of the most challenging due to past criticism he had directed at him while working in television.

He stated: “I’m a center-back, transferred for a significant fee, and captained United. Our journeys are quite similar, so I reached out to him when he joined the club and offered to meet for coffee if he ever wanted to chat.

“However, we had never addressed the [criticism] conversation, and it was valuable to do so. How does it impact a player to be criticized by a pundit with significant influence? I wanted to explore that for the fans.”

Ferdinand explained that he aims for his podcast to be a “safe space” for guests to “control their narrative.”

One player who has been particularly focused on their public narrative throughout their illustrious career is Ronaldo.

Numerous accolades and records have been achieved by the timeless Portuguese star, who also enjoys tremendous brand and commercial success, largely due to his accomplishments at the global powerhouse that is Manchester United.

This success has led to a meticulously crafted public persona, developed through years of sponsorships, brand partnerships, modeling contracts, and countless other PR endeavors.

Consequently, the current professions of Ronaldo and Ferdinand are somewhat at odds with each other.

As a result, Ronaldo has humorously dubbed his former teammate a “journalist” and admitted to Ferdinand that he “can’t say too much in the United group chat.”

Ferdinand shared: “It’s amusing because Cristiano [Ronaldo] now refers to me as a journalist.

“He texted me saying, ‘Now I can’t say too much in the United group; Rio’s in there. Rio the journalist!'”

Only one player in the modern era can claim to be superior to Ronaldo – the eight-time World Cup winner, Lionel Messi.

Ferdinand noted that Messi, who recently secured the 2025 Golden Boot for the second consecutive season with a hat-trick on Saturday, is his ideal interview guest.

He remarked: “[Lionel] Messi. I’m reaching out through various channels, talking to Becks [David Beckham].

“He’s such an extraordinary footballer, yet we don’t truly know who he is.”