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Ronaldo insists Rooney will shine again

Wayne Rooney is staying at Manchester United

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Wayne Rooney's one-time partner in crime Cristiano Ronaldo is backing his former team-mate to get back to his best for Manchester United now that his future is sorted out.

Rooney's only goal this season has come from the penalty spot and a combination of form and injury has seen him spend a chunk of the new campaign on the sidelines as Dimitar Berbatov and now Javier Hernandez picked up the scoring slack for United.

In fact, Rooney's incredible 34-goal haul last season seems a distant memory, with his poor performance at the World Cup for England and his recent contract saga at United sitting more prominently in the mind. But his goal-scoring prowess was obviously recalled by Sir Alex Ferguson and United's owners, the Glazers, as they contrived to keep Rooney at the club.

Ronaldo, on fire for Real Madrid with nine goals in his past four appearances, believes Rooney is now just a goal away from a complete turnaround, which is so often the case for strikers under pressure.

"Wayne has not started this season very well but he is still a fantastic player and I know that very soon he will be back to show that," Ronaldo told the Sun. "He has made his decision to stay with United and sign a new contract and we must all respect that. It's not my position to give him advice on that. But I know that things can change very quickly indeed.

"I didn't start this season very well, either. But it is difficult to play at the highest level all the time. I just stayed calm, worked hard and did my job for the team and suddenly I scored a few goals and everything changed. Football is like that. Sometimes we play bad and then you score a goal and everyone thinks differently about you. That will happen for Wayne."

United's fortunes have dipped slightly since Ronaldo's departure for Madrid after the 2008-09 season and the Portugese forward has been keeping tabs on his former club. He holds Ferguson in a high regard and believes the Scot, who he sees alongside current boss Jose Mourinho as the "best managers in the world", will get United back to the very top of English football.

"When I was in England, United won many titles, trophies and cups. Last year they didn't win anything special and this time they don't play so good, but this is just a moment. We have to give United time to find themselves again. Although their style is similar, they have bought some different players and they have not always been at 100%. But I am sure that they will be good again very soon.

"For five years I enjoyed working with Sir Alex Ferguson. I always had a good relationship with him and now I think of him as my friend as well as a great manager. For me Ferguson and Mourinho are the best managers in the world. One is young and one is older. But they have both won everything in football."

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