Comparisons with George Best come along almost daily, but players who actually live up to that hype come around like a footballing Halley’s Comet. In other parts of the world, promising talents are burdened with the tag of “The Next Maradona” or the “Next Pele” – that title was foisted on poor Nii Lamptey, and look what happened to him.

The press has trained us to have a feral Pavlovian froth around our gaping mouths whenever a new talent comes around. They told us to love Ronaldo for his outrageous trickery, they told us to hate him for getting Our Wayne sent off in the World Cup, and I blithely followed like a naïve pup. Right now Ronaldo’s talent rises above superlatives. The press can tell me what they want, they can bellow in my lughole about how amazing or how idiotic he is, but I’m not listening. I’m just watching. The man has been utterly ethereal this season. Simply looking at his bare numbers, stripped of wordy praise, sends a shiver down your spine.

In the league, Ronaldo is currently on 21 goals from 22 starts. And he is a winger.

‘Right now, Ronaldo’s talent rises above superlatives... Simply looking at his bare numbers, stripped of wordy praise, sends a shiver down your spine’

Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor is on 19, not too far behind, but this is Ronaldo’s season. Added to his incredible scoring record, the boy has also tamed his circus instincts. He has become ruthlessly effective without totally eschewing the showboating side, still regularly performing footballing miracles and tongue-twisters with his feet – but scoring so often, sometimes seemingly at will. 

As an Evertonian, like pretty much every fan in the Premier League, I have been on the receiving end of Ronaldo. He beat us as much as United did at Old Trafford, scoring a ridiculously good swirling first from outside the box and then dispatching a calm and collected penalty, neatly showing us both sides of this wonderful shining Portuguese doubloon. Ronaldo has harnessed both efficiency and skill – a truly dangerous blend. 

George Best, the Manchester United legend, was too differently skilled for even the word 'unique' to adequately describe him. Although similarities abound, Ronaldo is carving his own initials into the Old Trafford oak tree. George Best was the supreme footballer and playboy of his time at Old Trafford. Ronaldo, conspicuous in his absence from United’s Christmas hotel ‘party’, should hope to only pay lip service to Best on the pitch.