Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to Manchester United on a two-year contract with the option to extend for a further year.
It is 12 years since his departure. Twelve years during which he has scored 551 goals in 572 appearances for Real Madrid and Juventus, adding four more Champions Leagues to the one he claimed with Manchester United.
His return is a thrilling and emotive prospect for supporters. Ronaldo is still adored at Old Trafford, his name still sung in the terraces and his achievements still a source of considerable pride.
Ronaldo is undoubtedly a different player from the one who left Old Trafford more than a decade ago but even at 36 years old, he remains an exceptional goalscorer.
His output is no longer at the extraordinary heights of his peak years at Real Madrid, where he regularly surpassed the 50-goal mark, but he leaves Juventus having netted 101 times in 134 games for the Italian giants at an average of nearly 34 per season.
Age has not blunted his goalscoring instincts. In fact, he has scored more times in the last three seasons in Italy than he did in the final three of his first stint with Manchester United.
He remains remarkably robust for a player of his age too. Across his three full seasons in Turin, Ronaldo featured in 85 per cent of Juventus’ Serie A fixtures and an even higher percentage of their Champions League games.
The Portuguese left Old Trafford in 2009 as an explosive but at times erratic winger. He returns as an unrivalled goal poacher, less involved in general play but utterly ruthless in the opposition box.
He doesn’t come cheap but his Juventus experience proves to the next club investing in him that Ronaldo, even at the age of 36, still brings goals, glamour and global media attention.
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