Sporting CP confident of Cristiano Ronaldo return after making contact

Nineteen years after leaving Sporting Clube de Portugal for Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo could now make a move in the opposite direction.

The 37-year-old forward scored 24 goals last season but now finds himself as part of Erik ten Hag's rebuild.

With time running out, the Portugal international wants to make the most of any chance of silverware and that could see him move on.

According to The Sun on Sunday, Sporting believe that they can convince Ronaldo to return to the club.

Family connection

Cristiano came onto the scene by starting his career with Sporting, and it's a connection that means more to the superstar than a simple football club.

"He has to come back," his mum Dolores told a Portuguese podcast last year.

"I already told him: 'Son, before I die I want to see you return to Sporting'.

"'Let's see...', he said."

Sporting's interest in Cristiano

Ronaldo would not be the first player to return to the club in recent years either, and it appears to be a strategy that the Portuguese club are following.

"Yes, without a doubt, I would love for Ronaldo to end his career here, at home," said Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho.

"He represents a lot for us and it would be beautiful if he could end his career here.

"He is a world ambassador. He always speaks well about us and how fond he is of us.

"We are making a great effort for certain players to return to the club. We already did that with Nani [who spent the 2014-15 campaign on loan at Sporting] and we will see that many times."

It would be a poetic ending to Ronaldo's career which has spanned two decades across Europe.