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Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Manchester United felt like a seminal moment.

After year upon year of unfounded speculation that ran into dead ends, supporters would be forgiven for thinking that Ronaldo returning to Old Trafford was nothing more than a pipe dream.

So, when exactly that transpired across a barmy few days in last summer’s transfer window, United fans hardly knew what to do with themselves as a five-time Ballon d’Or winner was parachuted into their dressing room.

Having finished second in the Premier League and come within a whisker of Europa League glory the previous season, surely Ronaldo – along with Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane – would be the final piece in the puzzle for United’s return to greatness?!

Ok, ok, so we know that things didn’t quite work out that way with the Red Devils slumping to their worst ever season in England’s top-flight since the 1992 rebrand despite Ronaldo’s best efforts.

As such, there’s something of an uneasy atmosphere hovering over the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ as uncertainty remains over whether or not the absence of Champions League football will drive Ronaldo out the exit.

But no matter what happens from here on out, the Old Trafford faithful will always be able to treasure the fact that Ronaldo returned home to where it all started, even if things didn’t quite prove to be the fairy tale that everyone was hoping for.

And no doubt simply having Ronaldo in and around the dressing room for at least a season will have been profitable for the other United players as they got to see one of the greatest athletes of all time in action.

Plus, well, it’s hardly a bad thing to tell the grandkids that you got the opportunity to rub shoulders with many fans’ pick for the finest footballer to have ever lived.

And there’s perhaps good reason to believe that a certain Mr. Sancho has been particularly chuffed to call Ronaldo his teammate if an amusing video with Raheem Sterling is anything to go by.

That’s because a viral edit from England’s recent video of Sancho and Sterling reacting to wonder goals in grass roots football saw Ronaldo come up in conversation when you least expected it.

When discussing a stunning scissor kick in one of the submitted clips, Sancho barely gets a second into making a Ronaldo reference when Sterling jumps in and teases him as though he talks about the Portugal star all the time.

In a brilliant exchange between the two, Sancho reacts to the goal by saying: “That was cold. He didn’t mean it, though, but a goal’s a goal, innit?”

To which Sterling replied: “That was naughty. What do you mean he didn’t mean it?”

Sancho: “He meant that action, but he didn’t mean it to go top bins like that. You see Ronaldo’s one…”

Sterling: “Every day Ronaldo, bro! We get it, you play with him, we get it bro.”

Sancho: “Bro, if you want his shirt just let me know. I don’t understand.”

It was an amusing exchange that naturally got fans hitting the retweet button and generally just illustrates the brilliant chemistry amongst England players right now, so check it out down below:

Everyday Ronaldo 😂 @Sanchooo10 pic.twitter.com/1oAT5kClK2 — utdreport (@utdreport) August 5, 2022

Everyday Ronaldo 😂 @Sanchooo10 pic.twitter.com/1oAT5kClK2

“every day ronaldo” 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/q6hf2kDRuy — lexa 🦋 (@jadonmsanchos) August 5, 2022

“every day ronaldo” 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/q6hf2kDRuy

To be fair, Jadon, we’d probably be yapping on about Ronaldo if we played with him too!

Even if Sterling is just joking around though, it’s still a cheeky moment of banter that fans love seeing amongst players as it shows them in a more natural and relaxed environment than we’re used to.

It’s certainly hard to imagine in previous eras of the England national team seeing a United and Chelsea player who were on the opposite sides of the Manchester derby just months ago making a jokey video like that.

And Sterling might want to get in his request for a Ronaldo jersey sharpish if he does indeed want one because you can’t help but get the feeling that the 37-year-old really is hell-bent on leaving.

However, even if that does prove to be the case, Sancho will clearly still be able to get no end of pub chat out of his one year sharing the dressing room with him. Only joking, Jadon…

The world's ninth-fastest journalist. Nominated for AIPS Awards, Football Content Awards and Lincolnshire 30 Under 30. Author of such literary classics as 'Ranking every Premier League manager by how good they'd be on a night out'.

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