Strongest Manchester United teammates? Ferdinand: Based on body weight, it was Nani and Evra

Recently, Ferdinand revealed in an interview with the British men's health magazine that the strongest teammates he played alongside during his Manchester United career were not Rooney, but Nani and Evra.

Today, Ferdinand places great importance on strength training, but during his playing career he deliberately avoided heavy-weight training because he worried it would make him slower on the pitch. In addition, later in his career, Ferdinand was troubled by back injuries, which also limited his opportunities to perform heavy training.

However, not all of his teammates were in the same situation. In the interview, Ferdinand talked about the teammates with exceptional strength who played alongside him at Manchester United 20 years ago.

Of course, Wayne Rooney’s strength was outstanding. Ferdinand called him “Wazza,” and Rooney was well known for often using his physical power in matches. However, Ferdinand believes that two less obvious names may surprise some people with their strength in the gym.

Ferdinand said: “Wazza (Rooney) — he could walk into the gym, do a bench press of 110 kilograms without warming up, and make it look easy. He naturally had a kind of caveman-like strength.”

“Nani was the same. Nani was naturally very strong — he was a small guy, but he could also walk in and bench press 100 kilograms straight away. He had natural strength. If you judge by body weight, I would put Nani and Evra among the strongest players. Evra was very strong and had excellent physical qualities, but Nani had that kind of... he could do 10 sit-ups and might get a cramp, but he still had six-pack abs, no, ten-pack abs.”

Standing 1.78 meters tall, Portuguese winger Nani was known for his stylish playing style rather than his physical strength. He played for Manchester United for eight years from 2007 to 2015 and often performed backflips during goal celebrations, showing his athletic ability.

Although his strength may not have been as obvious, Nani had previously shown his physique as well. During his time with Orlando City in 2019, he posted a photo of his muscular body during gym training on social media and wrote: “Trying my bodybuilding pose.”

Meanwhile, Evra is also a player who continued to train hard even after retirement. He showed British men's health magazine a full-body training routine including isometric exercises, sled pushes, kettlebell swings and box jumps, and shared his fitness philosophy.

Evra said: “This is not for the cameras. This is real life, this is what I do every day.”