Even by his standards it has been an eventful summer for Cristiano Ronaldo.
A man used to hitting the headlines, the Portuguese has seen last year's return 'home' to Manchester United turn sour amid the club's drop in standards and form, as well as his own apparent disconnect with a club he was ecstatic at rejoining less than a year ago.
"Manchester United is a club that has always had a special place in my heart, and I have been overwhelmed by all the messages I have received," said Ronaldo on his return.
"I cannot wait to play at Old Trafford in front of a full stadium and see all the fans again. I'm looking forward to joining up with the team after the international games, and I hope we have a very successful season ahead."
Things didn't go to plan.
In a season pockmarked by the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the dismal reign of Ralf Rangnick, United limped home in sixth following one of their worst campaigns of the Premier League era.
Ronaldo didn't immediately make it clear that he wished to leave the club, but seemingly after a summer of talking things over with his agent Jorge Mendes, and considering life outside of his cherished Champions League - where he is still the all-time record goalscorer and appearance-maker - he was soon to make it known that he wished to move on again.
It was early July when Ronaldo let it be known that he wanted to leave the club, news that led pundit Jamie Carragher to reflect on a decision which hadn't worked out.
"Ronaldo did exactly what I thought he would do, score goals but make the team worse," Carragher tweeted. "The transfer request also kills the idea he turned down Man City because of his love for Man United."
Chelsea were soon credited with a serious interest in Ronaldo, with new owner Todd Boehly believed to be keen to snap up the 37-year-old.
Thomas Tuchel, however, seemed less keen.
"Out of respect we don’t comment on these players because we don’t like other coaches to speak about our players," he said. "This is where this has to stay.
"We focused on our top target Raheem Sterling who we signed and everything else stays behind closed doors."
United hadn't been willing to sell Ronaldo to Chelsea or anyone else though, despite the forward staying away from pre-season training - initially due to a personal issue - and then missing the summer tour to Asia and Australia, where new boss Erik ten Hag sought to implement his plans.
Yet as club after club explored and then ditched the idea of signing Ronaldo, he was forced to return to the club's Carrington training base when the players arrived back from the tour, with high-level talks planned.
Ronaldo was swiftly followed through the gates by his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and although the club insisted that this was a coincidence, many believed that the club legend would be involved in the discussions that sought to get Ronaldo back onside.
The forward seemed keen to get back in the swing of things during training though, as with physical fitness never much of a problem for him, he was soon attempting to build up match fitness after a stunted pre-season.
It was reported that he was happy with Ten Hag's appointment of the former Premier League forward Benni McCarthy as a coach to work specifically with the forwards, joining in with his extra shooting sessions in a bid to get up to speed.
Ronaldo then declared himself fit enough for United's final pre-season friendly of the summer at home to Rayo Vallecano, taking to Instagram two days before the game to declare that "Sunday the king plays".
In the event he didn't play for very long, getting just the first 45 minutes of the 1-1 draw before leaving Old Trafford before the conclusion of the match along with some of his teammates.
Ten Hag wasn't too happy about that, saying: "I certainly don't condone this. "This is unacceptable. For everyone. We are a team and you have to stay until the end."
The departure kickstarted another week of speculation over Ronaldo's future, but by now there were no clubs really at the forefront of any attempts to try and sign him.
After another week of training, the forward took to social media to declare that he was "ready" for the season opener at home to Brighton, but Ten Hag put him on the bench.
He was to emerge early in the second half but was unable to prevent United from slipping to a 2-1 defeat, after which Ten Hag suggested he should probably have started him.
"It is clear to see [that in] the second half we were better in midfield with Christian Eriksen down (moved back from a false nine position) and Ronaldo up," Ten Hag said.
"We created and Marcus Rashford had two good chances, it is a shame we did not score."
Another week passed by and Ronaldo was then given a start at Brentford, but in one of United's worst displays in living memory he was as poor as the rest of his teammates in a 4-0 defeat.
The veteran escaped much scrutiny after the match because everyone was so bad, and he was then in the group hauled into Carrington on Monday as Ten Hag read the riot act to his players after cancelling a day off.
Those players are now said to have become disillusioned with their superstar teammate, who reportedly sits on his own in the training ground canteen with many seeing him as a negative presence.
The situation from within the club has now gone full circle, with United willing to let Ronaldo leave even if they don't have a replacement lined up.
It is a far cry from earlier in the summer when they seemed desperate to keep him, and even farther one from last year's joyous announcement of his return.
