Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United: 145 goals in 346 games.

Manchester United is the only club either player joined twice, and the two spells have almost nothing in common. The first ran from 2003 to 2009: 292 appearances, 118 goals, 70 assists and 9 trophies. The second ran from 2021 to 2022: 54 appearances, 27 goals, 6 assists and no trophies. Combined, the club accounts for 346 appearances, 145 goals and 17% of his career club total — second only to Real Madrid.

The first spell is where he became the best player in the world. The 2007–08 season brought 42 goals in 49 games, the Premier League title, his first Champions League and his first Ballon d'Or. On 21 May 2008 United beat Chelsea on penalties in Moscow: Ronaldo scored in the final, missed in the shootout — saved by Petr Čech — and United won 6–5 anyway after John Terry slipped. He finished that season as its top scorer. His first senior hat-trick had come four months earlier, three against Newcastle in a 6–0 away win on 12 January 2008.

It is also where the rivalry started. On 23 April 2008, Barcelona and United drew 0–0 at the Camp Nou in a Champions League semi-final first leg — the first time Messi and Ronaldo shared a pitch. United won the return 1–0 at Old Trafford. A year later the two met in the 2009 final in Rome, which Barcelona won 2–0 with Messi scoring.

The second spell, at 36 and 37, produced 27 goals in 54 games at a rate of exactly 0.5 per appearance and no honours. Taken together the two spells average 0.42 goals per game — well below his Real Madrid rate of 1.03, which is almost entirely an artefact of the six years he spent here as a winger before Madrid turned him into a centre-forward.