Once a Messi fan, Manchester United's Fred now goes gaga over teammate Ronaldo

Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated the sport for well over a decade and are today two of the best footballers in the world. 

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Manchester United midfielder Fred had admitted that playing alongside legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo has led him to change his mind on one of football's age-old debates about who is better out of his teammate and Argentine Lionel Messi.

Both Ronaldo and Messi have dominated the sport for well over a decade and are today two of the best footballers in the world. While the Paris Saint-Germain striker Messi has seven Ballon d'Or trophies to his credit, the Portugal international Ronaldo has five wins. Twelve of the last 13 Ballon d'Or have been shared by the duo, with Real Madrid's Luka Modric clinching the title in 2018.

The Ronaldo vs Messi debate has never been ongoing, and it continues to rage between football fans, experts, former players, etc. And now Brazilian Fred, who plays alongside Ronaldo, has admitted that he was once a fan of Messi, but that has changed this season.

In an interview with TNT Sports Brasil, the 28-year-old said, "I used to say, Messi, it's a style that I enjoy more. But after playing with Cristiano, I can see closely the amount of work that he puts into every aspect of his football life."

"On the pitch, Ronaldo is always in the right place at the right time. He's the player with the highest ability to turn a game around I've ever seen. I choose him now over Messi," the Brazilian added.

"He's an exceptional guy, on and off the pitch. Every day he's working on getting even better, and that's important as an inspiration to all of us, especially the young players. He's a role model," Fred remarked.

The midfielder was also the latest Manchester United player to dismiss rumours of a growing rift within the dressing-room. Stating that such media speculations are a result of the tough times the team is having on the pitch, Fred added, "Manchester United is a gigantic club, and any misinformation generates clicks; that's the problem. We need to improve our game, but it's not related to the dressing room. People say that Cristiano did this, other players did that, it's all nonsense!"

"Our main focus as a group of players is to be united to get better performances and results. For example, I'm closer to Alex, so of course, I'll be chatting with him most of the time, but it doesn't mean I won't be around the English players. In the dressing room, I sit next to Rashford, and we have a great relationship. We have a united squad," the 28-year-old midfielder concluded.