Cristiano Ronaldo is the first United #7 to score 20 goals in a season since Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his 60th career hat-trick against Norwich on Saturday, taking his tally for the season up to 21 goals.

It’s hardly a bad return for a player whose second spell at Man Utd has been branded a failure by many. Even former teammates have weighed in on the lack of impact they feel the Portuguese icon has had since he came back to the Premier League.

Kleberson, who played for United at the same time as Ronaldo, told the Daily Star in February of this year.: “To be honest, the Ronaldo experiment has been a bit of a failure so far – especially because of the level of player he is and how of late he has impacted the team.”

“When you look at the things he can bring to the club and what he brings to the fans, it’s not been amazing.”

It might not have been amazing by his standards, but let’s not forget the guy is 37-years-old. If any other player nearing the ripe old age of 40 had rocketed in 21 goals across the Premier League and Champions League so far this season we would be waxing lyrical about them.

Ronaldo has been such a relentless goalscorer for so long now that we expect more of him, he is simply a victim of his own success.

And to demonstrate that, just look at the stats behind Ronaldo’s performances this season compared to previous players that bore the iconic number seven jersey…

As you can see, Ronaldo is the first United number seven to bag more than 20 goals in a season since Ronaldo last did the business back in 2008/2009.

Which, when you consider the calibre of player on that list and Ronaldo’s age, is some showing from the Portuguese star.

At the end of the day, he has been operating at the head of a totally non-functional team, with a complete lack of direction or leadership – yet