Ronaldo reacts to claim of being on par with him & Messi: 'Wtf? Who is this guy'

Cristiano Ronaldo has savagely responded to claims made by former Sporting Lisbon academy starlet Fabio Paim.

Paim was seen as one of Portugal's biggest prospects during the 2000s, with reports that even Ronaldo himself regarded Paim as the most promising young player of his generation.

However, Paim failed to live up to his potential, never making a senior appearance for Sporting, and having six loan stints away from the club - including at Chelsea where he also never made a competitive appearance.

In an interview on a podcast hosted by PT Clipes, Paim said he deserved at least one of Ronaldo's five Ballon d'Or trophies, and that he could have been on par with the Portuguese icon and Lionel Messi 'if he had half of Cristiano's brain'.

Ronaldo in response to the video gave a savage response, as he wrote on Instagram: 'Wtf??? Who is this guy.'

His response comes despite a number of reports claiming that Ronaldo said after his move to Man United in 2003: 'If you think I'm good, wait until you see Fabio Paim.'

Speaking on the podcast, Paim 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.'

After leaving Sporting in 2010, he went on to play across the world in countries including