Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson spoke of losing Cristiano Ronaldo yesterday while discussing Wayne Rooney's amazing U-turn.
Ferguson says the relationship between United and the Real Madrid star remains strong.
He said: "I'm delighted, really delighted. In my time, no one has come in to see me and asked away in that fashion.
"I could understand it with Cristiano Ronaldo. We'd had him for six years, he's from a different culture and he wanted to move on.
"It was a quiet meeting the year before he left and we agreed he should give us one more year.
"For Cristiano, he still says joining Manchester United was the best move of his life, that his formative years were here.
"And that's a great credit to us. He talks in the Spanish papers about what a great club Manchester United is and I don't think there's any doubt about that."