Chiellini claims he knows ‘alien’ Cristiano Ronaldo’s secrets and reveals how Man Utd star Pogba stunned him in training
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JUVENTUS captain Giorgio Chiellini claims he has learned Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's secrets on the pitch.
Chiellini and Ronaldo spent three years together at Juve until his return to United last summer and claims he is the kind of player that will guarantee you a goal - if he has a team that supports him.
The defender sang the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's praises and even described him, as well as Paris Saint-Germain's Lionel Messi, as "aliens".
Chiellini told : “Cristiano and Messi are aliens. Not from the herd.
“I was lucky enough to play with Cristiano at Juventus for three years and seeing him day by day, you understand some of his secrets.
"He works every day to achieve his goals — and finds new goals all the time. In the big moments, when you need him, he is there.
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“In the end, he’s just a single player. If Cristiano is in a team that supports him and plays better than the other, you can be sure he’ll get the goal.”
Chiellini also opened up about how impressed he was when he saw United star Paul Pogba training with Juventus for the first time in 2012 after he left Old Trafford.
The Italy international spent four years playing with Pogba in Turin and described him as the "LeBron James of football".
The 37-year-old defender is "sad" with the midfielder's struggles during his second stint with the Red Devils but insists he was unlucky with injuries.
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Chiellini added: “Pogba is the LeBron James of football. Really, when I see him growing up it’s fantastic.
“When I saw him that first week of training I said, ‘What? He is not real!’ He was from Manchester United, so I expected to meet a good player but I also thought if he is not playing for United he cannot be a top one.
"But he was. He was different from the others and I’m sad that [since rejoining United] he is not showing completely what he is.
"He has done fantastic in many matches but has not been lucky, with injuries and for other reasons. He has not been able to show, continuously, all his skill.”