A Manchester United fan group "United Reel" flew a banner over Villarreal's El Madrigal stadium during their clash with Real Madrid on Saturday pleading with Cristiano Ronaldo to return to the Premier League side.

The "Come Home Ronaldo - United Reel" banner circled the stadium 20 minutes into the match at the end of a sensational week for Ronaldo that has seen him linked with a return to Old Trafford in the English press.

The Portuguese scored back-to-back hat-tricks in victories over Deportivo la Coruna to take his tally for the season to 12 in just eight games and 264 goals in 254 games since joining Madrid from United five years ago.

United broke the British transfer record to land Angel di Maria from Madrid last month in a £59.7 million deal ($98 million, 75 million euros).

However, an even bigger fee is likely to be required to re-sign the World Player of the Year, who left United for 80 million pounds ($130m, 102 million euros)in 2009 and signed a new lucrative five-year contract with Madrid just 12 months ago.