When they say that in football you should never go back, it usually means it is a bad idea to return to an old club and try to relive former glories. There is nothing in the old cliche about it being a mistake to revisit your old city though, as Real Madrid attacker Cristiano Ronaldo appears to be at least considering at the moment.
Last Friday, Spanish paper AS revealed that the player's "sadness", first announced in early September, had not yet gone away, and then on Saturday followed up by suggesting he was more likely to leave for Paris St Germain, Manchester City or Manchester United next summer than sign a new contract with Madrid. All three of these clubs were apparently more than happy to put a smile back on the Portuguese attacker's face, and the chances of a deal happening were growing by the week.
Ronaldo had, apparently, a few new reasons for still feeling low. Firstly, Madrid had not officially criticised Levante's David Navarro for the elbow which opened his eyebrow in the previous weekend's La Ligagame, an assault which left him suffering vision problems and dizzy spells and unable to play in Portugal's midweek friendly in Gabon. Secondly, he had again lost out to Lionel Messi for an individual award, this time the LFP's player of the year 2011-12 trophy - further evidence, AS reckoned, that Barcelona's directors lobby harder for their players to win.