good remark but I also agree that his dream club was Madrid and it's the apex of his career there. Do you think one player can be a legend for two clubs by the way? I also think Cantona was a bigger character, one of the biggest ever in the club which makes him a real legend, and he finished his career here and very soon not long after his 30th birthday.
I don't think it's black and white anyway, you'd need to define the word LEGEND. I'd give points for number of games played for club, goals/assists/clean sheets, finishing his career here, starting his career here, peaking in the red jersey, trophies won, performance levels, fighting spirit, playing for the badge thing, overall fans thinking of the player and character he brought to the team and how he represented the club.... some of it is obviously immeasurable and subjective which makes it hard to decide
Real Madrid might have been Ronaldo's dream club given his nationality, and the whole Iberian connection, but overall he treated United and the supporters with a great deal of respect. A lot of the circumstances surrounding the departure are being rewritten, when apart from moaning the odd time, he never had a bad word to say about the club. This is why someone like Sir Alex still speaks of him in glowing terms, this is why his name is still sung in the stands, this is why he got a hero's reception on his return to Old Trafford, and seemed visibly moved after the game. We can't just hold his goal of playing for Madrid against him forever, there needs to be some closure regarding his departure.
And a player can certainly be a legend for two clubs simultaneously. Even aside from his time as the manager, Johan Cruyff for one is a legendary player at both Barcelona and Ajax, even though one could argue his best days as a player came at the latter club. Van Basten left Ajax at age 22, he won 3 Ballon D'Or titles at Milan and 2 European Cups; but he's still a legend at Ajax. Kevin Keegan won 2 Ballon D'Or titles at Hamburg and is considered to be a legend at the club, even though he played there for only 3 years. And that also doesn't take away from the fact that he is also a legend for Liverpool, despite him leaving at a young age, and playing 'only' 6 seasons with the club, some might even argue his absolute individual peak was at Hamburg :
http://forums.liverpoolfc.com/threads/334658-Kevin-Keegan-an-LFC-Legend-or-not
Ronaldo might have played longer at Madrid, but United fans still adore him, a lot more that even the fans of his current club. He might've played more matches for Madrid, and won 2 Ballon D'Or titles there vs 1 with United, but from a collective standpoint, he still won more at United. Why is there such a massive over-riding importance with longevity or retiring at the club? He played 6 seasons with the club, almost 300 matches, won everything there was to win, went from an 18 year old kid to out best player under Fergie, probably our best since Best. And then moved on to the next chapter of his career, something that's being held against him here for some reason, instead of taking a minute to appreciate what he did for the club. Just because he is a Madrid legend doesn't mean he can't be a United legend too. Those two things aren't mutually exclusive, despite argumentation to the contrary. There's way too much focus on arbitrary criteria, instead of his tangible effect on the club.
