Cristiano Ronaldo issued a brutal response to his old teammate, Fabio Paim, who claimed he was on a par with him and Lionel Messi.
Recently speaking on a podcast, former Sporting academy graduate Paim said he deserves one of Ronaldo’s Ballon d’Or awards.
He went on to state that if he had half the brain of his old teammate, he would be on a par with Ronaldo and Messi.
The podcast has since gone viral and has even reached the Al Nassr superstar, whose scathing response said it all.
“Wtf,” Ronaldo commented on Instagram. “Who is this guy?”
That is quite the statement from the Portuguese icon, who came up through the ranks with Paim at a time when they were both fancied for their potential.
Even Ronaldo thought so, who said after signing for Manchester United: “If you think I’m good, just wait until you see Fabio Paim.”
But the love has clearly gone now after the 38-year-old’s latest barb at Paim.
Speaking on a podcast hosted by PT Clipes, Paim had said: “Cristiano Ronaldo should offer me one of his Ballon d’Ors.
“I went to Sporting when I was seven years old, I grew up there. They were years of glory in which I won everything I could.
“I didn’t reach where I could have reached, but I marked a generation. If people don’t forget it’s because I marked them.
“I said when I was happy that I thought Cristiano Ronaldo could offer me a Ballon d’Or.
“But it was with humility. If I had half of Cristiano’s head, it wouldn’t be him and Messi.
“It would be me, him and Messi and maybe he wouldn’t have won the Ballon d’Or that he has. Maybe one of them was mine.”
Paim had been billed for greatness as a youngster but embarked on a journeyman career instead, which included a loan spell at Chelsea.
Luiz Felipe Scolari bagged the former winger in 2008 but he never made a senior appearance, playing a handful of times for the reserves instead.
He retired in 2018 after playing for clubs in countries including Qatar, Malta and Lithuania and even served time in prison during his career.
Source: Talk Sport