Rio Ferdinand has admitted he felt embarrassed to be in the company of Man Utd legends when he first signed for the club.
The BT Sport pundit enjoyed a distinguished career for the Red Devils as a player from 2002-2014, after a big-money transfer from rivals Leeds .
At the time, Ferdinand was an established England international, and considered one of the best young defenders in the game.
However, he revealed to the Oxford Union that his reputation meant nothing when walking through the door at Old Trafford.
Ferdinand said: "I'd gone from the captain of Leeds United, running that dressing room, to going to Manchester United .
"I had no trophies at that point. So I walked into that dressing room more or less naked because I felt embarrassed at times."
At the time United boasted a wealth of star players such as Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Paul Scholes - all of whom had won the Champions League and several Premier League titles.
And despite costing the club a then-British transfer record of £30 million, Ferdinand knew he would get no helping hand into the first team.
He added: "Getting there is the easier part. The manager saw me, spent x amount of money to buy me.
"But I've seen it with 10, 20, 30 players in the time I was with Man United: they get turn up and they [relax] whereas I was like: 'right, now the fight starts'."
Ferdinand went on to win his first major trophy with the club in his debut season, by winning the first of his six Premier League titles.
He later cemented his place as one of the all-time United greats when they won the Champions League in 2008, as part of a much-revered centre-back pairing with Serbian teammate Nemanja Vidic.
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