Love him or loathe him, the Premier League will miss Cristiano Ronaldo. He has always been backpage news for his football but is also capable of making as many headlines for the clothes he wears, the cars he drives and the girls he dates.

Ronaldo filled a void that was created once David Beckham left England for, ironically, Real Madrid six years ago.

Opinion is divided on the Portugal star's ability. He is either a 'one-trick pony' who spends most of his time rolling around on the floor or the best player on the planet who can score goals with his head, both feet and can terrorise any defence with his speed.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has prided himself on the ability of the top flight in England to attract the world's best, now Spain is fighting back. Once Ronaldo has agreed terms he will join Kaka and Lionel Messi in La Liga next season; the three best players on the planet all plying their trade in the same country.

Ronaldo has come along way from the gaunt teenager who arrived at Old Trafford in 2003 for £12million. He appeared to spend more time trying to step over the ball as kick it during his first season and looked far too lightweight for the sum of money that Sir Alex Ferguson had spent on him.

After the World Cup three years ago, there were serious doubts whether he would return to United, such was the public loathing following England's exit at the quarter-final stage of the competition.

He was blamed for getting Wayne Rooney sent off as England crashed out on penalties. Yet it was partly thanks to Rooney, who made it clear there were no hard feelings on his part, that Ronaldo was rehabilitated.

He scored 23 goals in 2006-07, just as importantly was credited with 20 assists and won both major Footballer of the Year prizes.

The following season was even better as he doubled his goal tally as United won both the Premier and Champions Leagues.

Ferguson had spent five years nurturing the raw talent and, by January 2008, he had been named by FIFA as their World Player of the Year.

The Scot, who had contemplated retirement, admitted he was given a new lease of life watching Ronaldo train with Rooney and, when the winger's father died in 2006, Ferguson became more than just his manager. There were suggestions that Ruud Van Nistelrooy was sold to Madrid because Ferguson had taken umbrage with the Dutch striker after he had a training-ground row with Ronaldo and told him to go "running to his father".

The pair had the strongest of bonds yet the cracks started to show at the end of the season. Ferguson berated the 24-year-old for missing a chance against Wigan at the JJB Stadium as United closed in on the title. Ronaldo's response was to simply shrug his shoulders and shout: "What me?"

Then he questioned his manager in this newspaper after the Champions League Final when United lost 2-0 to Barcelona in Rome. "The tactics were not good, everything went wrong," was his response to the defeat.

Now Ronaldo must continue his career without Ferguson and form a new relationship with Real manager Manuel Pellegrini, who has only just arrived at the club himself after leaving Villarreal.

The 55-year-old Chilean must feel like his Christmases have all come at once now that he has Kaka and Ronaldo at his disposal. Madrid still have huge problems in defence that need that need to be addressed and new president Florentino Perez is unlikely to give Pellegrini the time to form any kind of bond with Ronaldo if results do not improve on last season. Things could not get any worse after Barcelona beat Madrid 6-2 at the Bernabeu on their way to winning a Treble.

It represents the perfect opportunity for Ronaldo and Kaka, who can become instant heroes if they resurrect the old sleeping giant in the Spanish capital.

Back in England, Ferguson will look more to Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov to form a lethal partnership capable of winning a fourth straight title.

"I think it's fantastic business," said former United boss Tommy Docherty today. "United should cut Real's hands off and run."

Fantastic business indeed if Ferguson can use some of the £80m to try to attract Franck Ribery from Bayern Munich and still have money left over pay off some of the Glazer family's estimated £600m debt.