David Beckham urges Cristiano Ronaldo to make Manchester United return

Both Cristiano Ronaldo (L) and David Beckham donned the #7 shirt at Old Trafford

Former Manchester United star David Beckham holds hope that Cristiano Ronaldo will make a romantic return to the Theatre of Dreams before hanging up his boots, as reported by The Guardian. Ronaldo joined Manchester United the same summer Beckham left for Real Madrid in 2003.

Thereafter, the Portuguese forward spent six trophy-laden years at Old Trafford before following in the footsteps of the former United No.7 and joining Real Madrid in a mega deal that broke all the transfer records at the time. Six years further forward and Ronaldo is reportedly being linked with a move away from the Spanish giants, with Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and the Red Devils as the probable destination.

Before the charity match to be played on Saturday at Old Trafford, Beckham was quoted as saying, “Cristiano is such a fans' favourite here, and if he decides to leave Real then, for me personally, it's back to United. I never had the opportunity to do that, but I’m proud of the teams I played for after leaving United.

“Obviously given the chance once I'd left United, to have played for one of the biggest clubs in the world – Real Madrid – that was a dream. But I'd never advise any player not to return to Old Trafford. When I left, I'd have crawled back if I could!

“Cristiano was so successful here, such a hard worker, everyone you talk to that has played with him, been around his world, he’s not just one of the most talented players in the game, he’s a hard worker as well.

“I never had the opportunity to do that, and I’m proud of the teams I played for after United. But for me, I always think Old Trafford is where the journey should end,” he concluded.

Beckham compares United’s tactics under Van Gaal and Sir Alex Ferguson

Manchester United’s style of play under the current manager Louis van Gaal has come under a lot of criticism. Beckham avoided direct criticism of the United manager yet surmised that the tactics in his time under Sir Alex Ferguson were simple and effective.

“I think the style of football obviously has changed over the years, even when I was playing. It was starting to change then,” Beckham explained.

“You need fast wingers to get to the byline and cross it. We had that, fortunately, the likes of Ryan Giggs that went past players, and Lee Sharpe and Andrei Kanchelskis and people like that.

“I was lucky that the time I came into the team, it was about Roy Keane winning the ball in midfield, giving it to the wide players, we just needed a yard to cross it and you’ve got the likes of Teddy Sheringham or Andy Cole or Eric Cantona or Dwight Yorke in the middle and that was our game.

“That’s the great thing about football, it changes over the years. You might want it to be the same but times change.”