Owen Hargreaves left Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo raging after his first training session at Manchester United.
The ex-England international linked up with the Red Devils in 2007 from Bayern Munich, where he enjoyed a stunning opening season at Old Trafford.
He helped Sir Alex Ferguson’s side win the Premier League and Champions League – where he scored in the penalty shootout victory over Chelsea.
But he has revealed he jokingly rubbed his teammates up the wrong way after beating their sprint scores.
Speaking on UEFA’s Legend Lounge, Hargreaves’ former England and United teammate Rio Ferdinand recalled the funny incident.
He said: “When he [Hargreaves] signed with United, it went around the training ground after we done testing on his first day.
“We all knew Owen from England [camp], but a lot of the other players didn’t really have much idea who he was.
“We done the testing, and I remember Wazza [ Rooney] running into the changing room and going, ‘No, this is wrong. How is Owen at the top of the charts with the sprints?’”
Having his say, Hargreaves then remarked: “We did sprint tests, so they test you with lasers, so five, ten, 15, 20, 25 [metres].
“And I was always the fastest player on every team I ever played on.
“I was really explosive, if I play in there as a defensive midfield player, when you think you got time, I’m going to get it off you.
“But none of the boys really knew that about me, so when we did the sprint test, everyone was going mad.
“Cristiano was going, ‘I can’t lose to him.'”
Ferdinand then interjected: “Cristiano was going, ‘What is this? Come on!’ It was funny.”
Hargreaves spent four years at the Theatre of Dreams, though he struggled with injuries after his maiden campaign.
Following the European Cup success in 2008, he played just five games in all competitions for United.
Following the expiration of his contract, he linked up with United’s rivals Manchester City, but he was once again plagued by setbacks, featuring just four times.