Jamie Vardy polished off a bottle of port the night before he broke Ruud van Nistelrooy's goal-scoring record, Richie De Laet has claimed.
The pair were team-mates at Leicester when they shocked the world by winning the Premier League in 2016.
En route their striker rewrote history as he scored in 11 consecutive games - a record previously held by Van Nistelrooy.
Vardy broke the record against United in a 1-1 draw at the King Power, but the night before had enjoyed a traditional bit of port.
De Laet and he used to enjoy a drink on the sly, but while the defender helped himself to a small glass Vardy went one step further a drank the bottle.
He told Sportwereld: "In 2016, he broke Ruud van Nistelrooy's record when he scored in 11 consecutive games.
"Well, on the evening before the 11th game, we were in our hotel room. We had our own ritual.
"We would get the team coach driver to buy us a bottle of port, and hide it away in our room.
"I drank a small glass of it - and he polished off the rest of the bottle. The next day he broke the record. What a guy - he's truly a top bloke."
Vardy went on to score 24 times that season and has continued to be prolific since.
The 34-year-old remains an integral figure for the Foxes and has now scored 144 goals for the club.
That is despite De Laet revealing that Vardy doesn't have much interest in sticking to a careful diet.
He added: "As a professional footballer, you know when you can get away with having a drink - and certainly when you can't.
"But Jamie is the exception, par excellence... he can drink pints and eat pizza on the eve of matches, and still be fine."
