It’s been confirmed that Ronaldo has had the operation on his ankle injury and early indications from United are that it has passed without a hitch.

The operation was carried out in Amsterdam today with United’s official site claiming that it will be a month before the winger’s return date can be estimated.

The news comes as a culmination of a strange few days in which Portuguese medical staff and the player himself were claiming the operation was going ahead, while United denied that a decision had been made. It now seems that United were playing things cagey.

Ronaldo is now expected to return to Portugal to recover from the operation although United have been keen to point out that they will have a watchful eye over his progress. According to the club…

“Cristiano will begin his convalescence under the direction of club medical staff and an estimation of his return to full fitness will be possible following review by the specialist in one month.”

Given that it will be a month before we hear definite news on his fitness, it seems highly likely that Ronaldo will miss the start of the season. Perhaps that’s not a major concern however. With United missing the third Premiership fixture with Fulham due to the Super Cup tie with Zenit St Petersburg, the appeal of Ronaldo and indeed, his team-mates, for fantasy managers is not that great, at least for the first month of the season.

Whether this latest development kills off talk of a move away from Old Trafford remains to be seen.