Gary Neville snubs Cristiano Ronaldo in his two "certainties" for success at Man Utd

Gary Neville has named the two players that he ‘knew’ would have successful careers at Manchester United, but opted not to say five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

Neville spent his entire career with the Red Devils, making 400 league appearances over the course of 18 years.

During that time, the English right-back won Premier League eight times, the Champions League twice and the FA Cup three times.

Of course, Neville’s extended time at Old Trafford meant that he was in and amongst the squad during their dominant days and saw some of the world’s greatest players coming through the doors.

And the 46-year-old has revealed that the two players who he instantly was convinced by were Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Speaking on a transfer special for Sky Sports, Neville said: “There were two certainties.

"The one who I already knew was Wayne Rooney. It wasn't even a risk, you just knew he would be absolutely unbelievable.

“Even though we had to wait for him to make his debut because he was injured, I never thought it would be a risk.

The other one I didn't know but we spent a lot of money on him and it was Ruud van Nistelrooy.

“The first time I watched him in training, he did a shooting session and hit one and I went, ‘woah, you can't kick a ball like that’.

“Sometimes you see things in training and just think to yourself, ‘that's a proper player’.

“That was Ruud. He was the one who I didn't know beforehand that I looked at straightaway in training and thought he was unbelievable.”

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Rooney is United’s all-time top scorer (253) and regarded by many as one of the best strikers to ever grace the Premier