Ronaldo should have a burning desire to sign for United, not because he’s got the hump with the taxman ANDYDUNN

RETURN OF OLD TRAFFORD HERO?

He has taken possession and, out of the corner of his immaculately browed eye, sees the human wrecking ball that is Phil Jones hoving into view.

Fast-forward to his second Old Trafford debut. He makes a run into a channel, urging Marouane Fellaini to play him in. Fellaini shanks it. Antonio Valencia gallops on the overlap, Ronaldo peels away towards the back post. Valencia’s driven cross hits the first defender. Again. Not renowned for his tolerance of others’ limitations, if Ronaldo rejoins United, there is every chance he will spend half his life with his hands on his hips, screaming at the sky.

This is a player who often seems to think Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric are not good enough to be in the same side as him. Quite what he would make of Fellaini, Jones and most of the current United squad is anyone’s guess.

It looks set for a considerable upgrade, sure. But the United he would rejoin is not the United he left and is certainly not the Real Madrid he would be leaving. For Marcelo, read Matteo Darmian. Or even Luke Shaw. Over the last three seasons, United have scored 165 league goals.

Over the same period, Ronaldo has scored 108. The United he left had just won three titles on the spin.

It was the United of Ferdinand and Vidic forming one of the finest defensive partnerships the Premier League has seen, of Scholes and Giggs