Hollywood actor James Nesbitt has joked that he will try to engineer Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United return when he hosts the Ballon d’Or ceremony next month.
The lifelong United fan said that he will take a shirt with Ronaldo’s name and number with him to Zurich in a bid to persuade the Portuguese to come back to Old Trafford.
“I’m taking a shirt with Ronaldo’s name and number on it, and hopefully he’ll put it on and get on the plane back with me,” Sky Sports quotes the Northern Irishman as saying.
Nesbitt, who starred in the recent Hobbit trilogy, is one of United’s most famous followers and wrote a tribute to the great George Best in The Independent following his 2005 death.
Ronaldo is the reigning Ballon d’Or holder and has been nominated for this year’s award alongside four-time winner Lionel Messi and his Barcelona teammate Neymar.
The 30-year-old left United for Real Madrid for a then-world record £80m in 2009 – fee reported by BBC Sport – but has been linked with a return to Manchester by ESPN.
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