Manchester United are reportedly preparing a bid to lure Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford.

Ronaldo left United for the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2009, with Madrid forking out a world record transfer fee of £80million to land the Portuguese star.

However, Manchester Evening News is reporting United are interested in bringing the 30-year-old back to Manchester and are prepared to pay a club record fee to do so.

It is understood that Ronaldo is unhappy with the appointment of Rafael Benitez as Madrid manager, having already visibly lost his cool with the former Liverpool boss twice during Los Blancos' pre-season tour of Australia.

There were reports linking Ronaldo with a return to Old Trafford back in 2013, with then manager David Moyes saying: "There was talk of Ronaldo when I first arrived. We were close to getting a couple of major names."