"Source of pride and enormous satisfaction" - Cristiano Ronaldo refelects on his return to Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United last summer after a three-year spell with Juventus. He had an incredibly successful spell with the Red Devils the first time around after signing for them in 2003 from Sporting Lisbon.

Ronaldo won multiple Premier League titles, one Champions League, domestic cups and one Ballon d'Or back then. He broke several records and eventually moved to Real Madrid in 2009 for a then-record fee of over €94 million.

In a recent interview with DAZN, Ronaldo spoke about his return to Manchester United. He said:

"Leaving Sporting and coming to Manchester was the change of my life. And now coming back at 36 was also a very nice moment in my life, being a family man, with many children, winning what I already won in football, showing everything what I had to demonstrate and create a page in the history of football."

The 37-year-old also talked about playing at a high level at his age and his performances in the Champions League this season. He has scored six goals in six appearances so far in the competition. He said:

"But apart from that, what I wanted was to get there and show myself that I was capable of playing at a high level. I think I didn't disappoint expectations because maybe people were expecting a different Cristiano and no, it was the other way around."

He added:

"I arrived well, scoring goals, mainly in the Champions League, which I scored in all the games. I feel good, it was a nice change to return home so many years later. For me, it was a source of pride and enormous satisfaction."

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Manchester United have relied heavily on Ronaldo this season

While Ronaldo had a successful spell at Old Trafford during his first stint, this season has been far from it. United are currently fighting for a top-four place in the Premier League and are already out of both domestic cups.

They currently sit in fourth place in the league but have played two more games than Arsenal, who are just a point behind. Manchester United are alive in the Champions League as well. They will face Atletico Madrid in March in the second leg of the Round of 16 after drawing 1-1 in the first leg.

Ronaldo, individually, has had an underwhelming season so far by his legendary standards. He is the club's top scorer with 15 goals in 30 matches in all competitions. He has saved them on multiple occasions with late goals, especially in the Champions League.

Ronaldo will hope to add more goals to his tally to help Manchester United qualify for the Champions League next season.