Rio Ferdinand reveals what led to Man Utd star leaving WhatsApp group after 10 minutes

The former Manchester United defender joined Rio Ferdinand and Dimitar Berbatov on ‘Rio Ferdinand Presents’ to discuss his life in the dressing room – and his time in the club’s WhatsApp group

Nemanja Vidic made a swift exit from a Manchester United WhatsApp group as he was unable to cope with the barrage of notifications.

Talking on ‘Rio Ferdinand Presents’, with ex-United ace Dimitar Berbatov, the trio reminisced about their time in the Red Devils’ changing room. They all concurred that they pined for the daily banter and team spirit of training sessions.

Ferdinand opened up on how the former team-mates try to maintain their bonds through a WhatsApp group. But he disclosed that Vidic’s tenure in the chat was brief due to the Serbian’s low tolerance for the constant buzz of messages with Ferdinand hinting at “hundreds” of texts flying around.

“Vida [Vidic] came in for ten minutes then left,” Ferdinand said. “How long did you come in for? One day maybe? He didn’t like the notifications, the messages coming through – a hundred messages.”

Berbatov nudged his old pal pointing out he could still be part of the group without being bombarded with alerts. The Bulgarian ace reminisced about how the group chat gave off serious changing room vibes, even slipping in a cheeky dig at Vidic’s tech skills, as per the Manchester Evening News.

“It’s a metaphor for the dressing room so you should come back,” Berbatov told Vidic. “Change with time, you need to speak. (Laughing) In a way it’s like me progressing and you regressing.”

Despite shunning the digital get-togethers, Vidic confessed to missing the larks and verbal tussles. And ‘true’ to form for the tough-as-nails ex-centre-back, he said: “That’s the fun part of the dressing room, the arguing and the jokes. Obviously I was not the one making many jokes but I was happy to be there listening.”

The image of Vidic as the stone-faced warrior of the team’s WhatsApp group isn’t all that shocking. Ben Foster, once United’s keeper, divulged how his training days with Vidic were no picnic thanks to his hardcore approach.

Foster, who played 23 games for the Red Devils over five years, shared his experiences on the Squeaky Bum Time podcast, shedding light on the intimidating aura of the former Serbian international. “Just talking about Nemanja, off the pitch he was fairly quiet wasn’t he, but on the pitch, in training, that guy was a scary bloke, honestly.

“Horrible, honestly he did not care. If we were playing a five-a-side or six-a-side or something, if you were on his team, I used to think: ‘Please don’t be on Nemanja’s team, please don’t’.

“Because if we didn’t win, if I let a goal in that he thinks I should have done better with, he was letting you know and he would dig you out and he was after everybody. Honestly, he was horrible in training but off the pitch completely different.”

Vidic’s time at Old Trafford was a remarkable success. The centre-back scooped five Premier League titles, three League Cups, and a Champions League victory during his eight-year tenure under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Meanwhile, Dimitar Berbatov, who signed with the Red Devils in September 2008 from Tottenham for £30 million, made a lasting impression at United. The prolific striker netted 48 goals, claimed two Premier League titles, a League Cup and the FIFA World Club Cup.

He also represented United in two ill-fated Champions League finals where Sir Alex’s men lost to Barcelona on both occasions.

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