Anderson has revealed he and Nani used to sleep on stretchers at Manchester United's training ground after getting a lift from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Both Anderson and Nani joined United in 2007 and Ronaldo immediately took the pair under his wing, allowing them to stay at his house and driving them to training. They lived with Ronaldo for "almost a year", with Anderson admitting the Portuguese superstar would have been happy with them staying longer.
"As soon as I arrived, I went to Cristiano's house," Anderson said in an interview with Brazilian outlet Globo Esporte. "I thank him very much. He adopted me. We lived at Ronaldo's house for almost a year. We left because we wanted to leave.
"For him we could have stayed there. We didn't spend anything. The guy took us to training, fed us, had a cook for us. There was a swimming pool inside and outside the house, a jacuzzi, and a tennis court."
Anderson also provided some insight into Ronaldo's mentality, revealing the forward would travel to Carrington for training three hours before it was due to start and that he and Nani would take a nap while waiting for everyone else to arrive.
"Training was at 9:30 am, but sometimes we had to go at 6:30 am, because Ronaldo was at the club and we went with him," Anderson added. "Nani and I slept there on the stretchers and waited because his work had to start.
"If I had 5 per cent of CR7's mentality, I would be among the 20 best midfielders at that time. That Brazilian side of us bothered me... Thinking that we've already won everything and everything is resolved. Of not wanting something a little more."
Anderson's comments are echoed by those who worked with the midfielder, with former United coach Mick Clegg saying he was "more than capable of being an absolute stormer of a player" but he simply "chose not to put in the work". He told the Athletic in 2022: "You could never find a nicer person — he was popular with everyone — but he was a lazy bleeder.
"He always had his excuses. I used to have a stick and I said to Alex Ferguson very early on, 'If he carries on, I'm going to hit him with my bleeding stick'. Fergie couldn't believe it. 'Don't you dare. He cost me a lot of money. You can't be hitting one of my players, are you mad?'.
"Then, six weeks later, Fergie came to find me. 'Where's that bloody stick?', he said. 'Give me that stick. I want to hit him'. Anderson was more than capable of being an absolute stormer of a player.
"Anderson was more than capable of being an absolute stormer of a player. He just needed his head knocking. He didn't keep fit. He chose not to put in the work, so it's hard to have too much sympathy for him. He was a party animal."