Cristiano Ronaldo has more than kept his side of the bargain since his move back to Manchester United last summer.
Goals galore allied to supreme professionalism. Some problem player, eh? What a crying shame then that United haven't lived up to their side of a deal that should have brought a smile back to a club desperate for the feel-good factor to return.
Instead the once grand club and it's players have let down one of their greatest stars who was on the scoresheet yet again at the Emirates with his 100th Premier League goal in a disappointing defeat to Arsenal.
And compatriot Bruno Fernandes is as guilty as anyone in failing to give Ronaldo the ammunition, the back-up and the platform to make his return the true fairy-tale every United fan wanted. Fernandes was without doubt a saviour when he single-handedly kept United afloat with 40 goals in 80 games in his first season and a half at Old Trafford after a £47 million move from Sporting Lisbon. But while United fall apart, Fernandes has nose-dived off a cliff.
It's been a spectacular downward spiral and the 27-year-old Portuguese attacker, a shadow of the player he was just 12 months ago, can't do a thing right. While ultimate pro Ronaldo was on the scoresheet again after a week in which his new born son died, flaky Fernandes choked at exactly the moment he could have helped United turn their crumbling season around. Trailing 2-1 in a game in which some big VAR decisions went against them, United won a penalty early second half after a daft handball by Nuno Tavares.
Fernandes looked a bag of nerves and it was little surprise he dragged the ball onto the post with Aaron Ramsdale taking a punt for the other corner. United fans were prepared to put up with his petulance, whinging and injury histrionics while he provided classy assists and goals.
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Now he's as big a part of the problem as a defence which is laughably bad and a midfield that is easy to run through. And he was lucky to see yellow for a stamp on Tavares which could easily have been a red card as frustration bit hard. There are so many games where Fernandes shows little tactical discipline, roams all over the pitch and always has to try the Hollywood pass. That's fine when things are going well.
But this is a United team in free-fall and Fernandes, who signed a new bumper contract recently, has turned into a bigger problem than Ronaldo has ever been in his near 1000 goal career. Despite being defensively inept, United were actually doing okay until Fernandes missed the 56th minute penalty against an Arsenal side who rode their luck to go 2-0 up thanks to goals from Tavares and Bakayo Saka. Even then they could have got back into the game with Ronaldo denied a second goal by VAR moments later by a toe-nail while Ramsdale stopped a certain goal pushing a Diogo Dalot shot onto the post.
While United struggled to find an equaliser, Granit Xhaka pulled the trigger and fired a screamer past unsighted De Gea to seal another vital three points in Arsenal's quest for top four. In reality top four for United had gone long before this game at Arsenal. And the way they're going you'd swear Ralf Rangnick's rabble are homing in on eighth place – and no European football next season. That will undoubtedly help Erik ten Hag - but how low can United sink?
They already have the lowest points total in their Premier League history at this stage of the season. That's damage enough in a campaign that's laid bare issues from top to bottom at Old Trafford. And you can bet there'd be no complaints from fans if Rangnick could play the club's Under-23 team in the remaining games of a nightmare season.
