Cristiano Ronaldo has finally ended the Lionel Messi debate back at Manchester United

Just consider the facts: in his first season back in England after 12 years where he turned 37, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 23 goals in 36 games, all of them in the Premier League and Champions League.

Ronaldo ended 2006-07 - his first great season with Manchester United - on 23 goals. Ronaldo has four games to match his tally of 26 for 2008-09.

The tedious Ronaldo-Messi debate was put to bed long ago. Ronaldo has conquered football's three major leagues. Messi fled across the border to the Ligue 1 procession and hitherto has a paltry nine goals for Paris Saint-Germain.

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Ronaldo eclipsed Messi years ago and did so again in a summer where they were both on the move. Messi's mask slipped when he swapped the purity of Barcelona for the Qatari commodity in Paris. Ronaldo embraced the challenge of transforming United into a credible and competitive force.

Ronaldo was always going to be a success. United were unlikely to be. In a season United started as would-be championship challengers with the former Cardiff manager, they tossed it off before Christmas by hiring an interim who has agreed a new job with a nation that failed to qualify for the World Cup before the season has ended.

This has been the worst United team and season in living memory yet Ronaldo is the Premier League's joint-second highest scorer with Heung-min Son and only behind Mohamed Salah, the new FWA Player of the Year.

In seven starts against Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal, Ronaldo has plundered eight goals. From Villa Park to Anfield, via the Etihad, when Ronaldo has been absent United have faltered rather than thrived.

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