Manchester United: Is Cristiano Ronaldo the answer or a backwards step?

With Manchester United heavily linked to the Portuguese superstar, would the deal take Louis van Gaal’s side up a level or would it be a hindrance?

After years of speculation and two years of relative underachieving, Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo seem to be heading for a reunion once again according to press in Europe.

After a slow, defensive start to the season which has seen Ronaldo still net 13 goals in 15 games, reports have emerged that the Portugal and Real Madrid all-time top goalscorer is looking to leave the Bernabeu at the end of the season. Those same reports have Manchester United at the front of the queue for his signature.

Now while this is natural considering his relationship and flirtations with Old Trafford since leaving the club in 2009, fans seem to be having mixed emotions.

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Ronaldo turns 31 years old in February and has already shown signs of a decline in performance compared to his usual incredible standards. That’s not to say that he’s been poor, just not as good as he has been in recent years.

On top of that, his famous ego has come to light even more in recent weeks due to his own and Real’s failings and was a huge story in Madrid following the 4-0 El Clasico defeat last weekend.

Reports emerged that he told the Real Madrid board that if Rafa Benitez wasn’t sacked, he would leave. It seems now that Florentino Perez has backed the manager.

But with the team that van Gaal has built in the last 18 months is there space for an egotistical, selfish goalscoring machine?

van Gaal confirmed that Manchester United are interested in signing Ronaldo and has been crying out for pace, creativity and goals from the wide positions since he took over. He’s tried to sign Gareth Bale on a number of occasions, while Memphis and Anthony Martial have both been signed and played in a wide position too. Juan Mata has been involved in more Premier League goals than any other Manchester United player since his arrival six months prior to van Gaal and the Dutch boss plays him in a wide role too.

Regardless of Ronaldo’s inevitable decline, he still guarantees exactly that. In his prime, Ronaldo was scoring 60 goals a season. He guarantees you at least 20 goals a season but should van Gaal abandon his shape and philosophy at the expense of the superhuman?

A fee of £60 million has been touted with wages upwards of £250,000 per-week. That’s an awfully large amount of money for a player on the slope but realistically he’s the best readily available option.