COMMENT: Cristiano Ronaldo is Real Madrid's golden boy and nobody could doubt his place in the club's hall of fame, but now may just be the time for the Spanish giants to cash in on him before it is too late.

While his standing among his loyalist supporters is still strong, there are murmurs of discontent both in the Santiago Bernabéu and the Spanish media about his current and future contribution to Los Merengues.

In previous seasons CR7 was the go-to man to lift the team and score the goals that won Madrid the difficult and vital games. He rescued them time and again with stunning, spectacular and decisive strikes from all over the pitch. But questions are beginning to be asked. Along with his lack of goals in key games his temperament and attitude is also being questioned.

At the weekend, Ronaldo did not score against Real Betis while again striking out at an opponent and the sports newspapers that cover every angle of Real Madrid every day are looking for answers.

This term the talismanic forward has scored 16 league goals in 21 matches and that in itself could be seen is impressive, but he has actually only scored in 12 of those matches.

Five of Ronaldo's goals came in one match, the 6-0 away-day hammering of Espanyol, two came against nine-man Rayo Vallecano and four from the penalty spot. Leaving just five goals in other games.

In fact, if Ronaldo had not scored at all this season then Real Madrid would only be two points worse off as his brace against Real Sociedad in the Bernabéu meant that the hosts won 3-1. All his other efforts this term have come when the team won by more goals than he scored.

“Ronaldo was a hurricane that used to run through half the opposition team. Now he has reduced his zone of play to the area and is much more predictable and less threatening to his opponents. Without punch, he is also uncomfortable with the ball. He participates less than ever and is more imprecise all the time."

That is not a journalist from FC Barcelona-biased Sport or El Mundo Deportivo, but part of an article questioning the good and bad of Ronaldo in Marca; one of Real Madrid's key supporters in the daily sports press.

Accuracy and effectiveness was also called into question, by ardent Madrid paper AS, when they highlighted in an article critical of the player that he has had 135 shots in the league this season, more than double the number of Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema combined, 50 and 60 respectively, but the Portuguese has a conversion rate of 11.85 per cent, while the Welshman has a 26 per cent rate and the Frenchman a 28.33 per cent rate.

Ronaldo may never have been an angel, but this term the former Manchester United star has hit out at opponents on five occasions, the latest coming against Betis when he appeared to try and kick Francisco Molinero only a week after connecting firmly with the back of the legs of Sporting's Nacho Cases.

Allied to all this is the fact that CR7 has lost the ball more than any other Madrid player this term, 199 times, and that he is no longer the team's top scorer in the league, Karim Benzema has 17 goals, and the early warning signs could be there for both Madrid and the player.

Talk is rife of a possible move away from Spain this summer. Media interest in his failings may just be discontent with Los Merengues falling further behind in the title race and their main man not stepping up as he has done on so many brilliant occasions in the previous six seasons.

Or it could be part of a long-term strategy to ensure that if and when he is sold then Madrid's fans believe that it almost became inevitable that he had to go before his star waned.

Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United would welcome Ronaldo with open arms and rightly so as a new challenge may reignite his fire on the field and the marketing and business side for both clubs off it.

At 30 years of age he is not going to become any better, quicker, stronger or faster, but maybe Madrid feel that just his presence on the field serves to ensure opponents are worried even if the goods are not being produced as regularly as they used to.

This is Real Madrid, however, and money could well talk should PSG look to make their move in six months time. If it does then president Florentino Pérez's advisers could forego the romance and tell him to cash in now.