Over the past two decades, Cristiano Ronaldo has established himself as one of the greatest footballers to ever play the game. But there was a time in his young career when he may not even have been the best player in his academy team.
Starting out at Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo came through the ranks with another winger by the name of Fabio Paim. Rumour has it that Paim was the more talented of the pair. Or at least that’s what he will tell you.
According to Paim, who is now 36, he was destined for stardom and a better career than Ronaldo, but his work ethic let him down.
‘He grew up with me, we spent a long time together,’ Paim explained in a recent interview with Globo Esporte as he reflected on his relationship with Ronaldo.
‘I was Sporting’s number one at that time. Cristiano started to be Cristiano when he went to Manchester. Even then, nobody knew he would become what he is today.
Fabio Paim (pictured) has claimed he was better than Cristiano Ronaldo when they played together in Sporting Lisbon’s academy
Ronaldo has gone on to become a global superstar while Paim never fulfilled his potential
Paim has now gone down a different career path as he is working as a pornstar
‘Today Cristiano is the king, Paim is nobody. And people say “oh, he’s a liar, he wasn’t better”. But the truth is that I was better than him and everyone knows that. I had more talent. But talent is nothing, talent is just a little bit. If you don’t have the rest, you’ll be nobody.’
So, is Paim telling the truth? A quote attributed to Ronaldo from when he first joined Manchester United in 2003 indicates that he might be.
Having rocked up at Old Trafford as a wiry teenager, Ronaldo is reported to have told the media: ‘If you think I’m good, wait until you see Fabio Paim’.
They nearly got their chance in 2008 when Paim moved to Chelsea on loan.
He joined Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side as a 20-year-old just months after Chelsea had narrowly missed out on winning the Champions League and rubbed shoulders with the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
However, his time in west London proved disastrous, as despite earning almost £50,000-a-month, he failed to make a single senior appearance.
After four months of being restricted to playing for the reserves, he returned to Portugal.
From there, Paim’s career rather petered out. The exciting talent that was supposed to be the next big thing never won a single international cap for Portugal, and ended up playing his football in obscure leagues in Angola, Qatar, Lithuania and Hungary before hanging his boots up following a spell in Poland in 2021.
Was it all just about his lack of work ethic? A deeper look into Paim’s life indicates that his off-field behaviour may also have played a part in him failing to live up to his potential.
Paim has faced accusations of rape twice, in Portugal in 2012 and then again three years later in Lithuania. On both occasions, the cases did not lead to trials.
But in 2019, he did end up in jail after being arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking.
Paim spent a year at Caxias Prison in Lisbon, and revealed in an interview with The Sun last year that he was able to watch his former team-mate Ronaldo train from his cell.
Paim played for Portugal at youth level but never won a senior cap for his country
Paim spent a year at Caxias Prison after being arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking
Paim was able to watch Ronaldo train with the Portuguese national team from his jail cell
‘From jail, I could see the Portuguese national team’s training ground,’ he explained.
He may have wanted to be out on the pitch with Ronaldo, but those days were long gone. Still, that hasn’t stopped Paim reminiscing about the past.
After being released from jail, Paim went on a podcast hosted by PT Clipes, and made a cheeky request to Ronaldo.
‘I said when I was happy that I thought Cristiano Ronaldo could offer me a Ballon d’Or,’ Paim said. ‘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’Ors that he has. Maybe one of them was mine.’
Ronaldo responded in brutal fashion on Instagram, writing: ‘Wtf??? Who is this guy?’ but Paim has insisted this was a tongue-in-cheek comment from his ex-team-mate.
Those dreams of Ballon d’Ors and sharing the pitch with Ronaldo again are over, though, as Paim has decided to go down a completely new career path.
He recently announced that he is now a pornstar, and he shot his first film in September.
The feedback was positive, with Diana Melancia, one of two women who performed alongside Paim in a sex tape that went on sale overnight for £65 on Telegram, telling The Sun: ‘We thought he was going to be nervous and it wouldn’t work out – but Fabio turned out to be a lion.
‘He was good at football and he is good at porn. He’s going to be a success. I hope this film is the first of many with Paim.’
Paim himself is pleased with the reaction to his career switch, having been thrust back into the spotlight in recent months.
Paim has cheekily claimed Ronaldo should give him one of his Ballon d’Ors
Paim is enjoying his new career as a pornstar, and has received positive feedback so far
‘Here in Portugal [the news about the pornographic film] is all the rage, everyone is going crazy,’ he told Globo Esporte.
‘Do you know why? Because people don’t take it the wrong way, that’s just how I am. On a podcast, I said that my dream was to be a pornographic actor. I got a lot of offers. I was on the news, I was on the front pages of newspapers… And I hadn’t done anything.
‘Since everyone was talking about it, [I thought] let’s make a film. And I did. I’ll tell you one thing. It’s good to have sex and still get paid for it.’
Paim has been tipped to succeed in his new industry, but he was also expected to thrive as a footballer.
After troubles on and off the pitch for the best part of 20 years, Paim is now looking to put that behind him as he begins his next adventure.
