Alan Shearer believes Cristiano Ronaldo should “guarantee” Manchester United at least 20 league goals this season.
The 36-year-old completed a sensational Premier League return at the start of September, returning to Old Trafford from Juventus, 12 years after he left for Real Madrid.
And while he is now a vastly different player to the one which left all those years ago, one thing that hasn’t changed is his remarkable form in front of goal.
In his first seven games back with the club, Ronaldo has already scored five times, three of which have come in the Premier League and two in the Champions League.
However, he has gone two without a goal in the league, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer opting to controversially start him from the bench against Everton last time out.
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer know a thing or two about finding the back of the net and both believe he is in for a prolific season.
“When you look at his career, and particularly his career at Man United, he started there, started very raw but unbelievable talent and you could see that from the beginning,” Shearer said on the BBC’s Match of the Day Top 10 podcast.
“And where he’s got to… him and Messi have taken goal scoring to another level. It was ridiculous the number of goals these guys [have scored].”
Fellow BBC pundit Micah Richards asked the two strikers how many they thought Ronaldo could score in his first campaign back in England.
“It depends how often [he plays], if he stays fit…25,” Lineker replied.
Shearer, who with 260 goals still holds the Premier League record, added: “I think I’m right in saying the last time he failed to score 20 or more league goals in a season was the season he left Manchester United in 2009.
“You’re pretty much guaranteed I would say 20 league goals.”
Despite his impressive early season form, Ronaldo has refused to publicly disclose any individual targets, instead focusing on bringing silverware back to the club for the first time since Solskjaer’s appointment in 2018.
"I have a fantastic history with this amazing club. I was there at 18 years old and of course I'm so happy to be back home after 12 years,” he said after completing his return at the start of last month.
"I think it's the best decision that I have made. It's right on point in my opinion.
"I moved from Juve now to Manchester, it's a new chapter, I'm so happy and glad, and I want to carry on again, to make history, to try to help Manchester achieve great results, to win trophies and number one of them, to win great things."
