Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo insists he still watches all of Manchester United’s matches on television and, keeping an interest in what goes on at his former club, has backed Nani to fill his boots at Old Trafford.

“Every time I can I try to watch United’s games on television,” Ronaldo told the Mirror, who has adapted quickly to life in La Liga and has scored in all four of Real’s league matches this season.

“I still like to know what’s happening at Old Trafford. And despite now being at Real, I’m always happy when I know when United have won.

“I’ve also seen that Nani is playing much more than he was last season when I was there. That’s good for him and he will benefit from that.

“Now he has more opportunities to play, he will be able to show the fans just how a great player he is.

“We still speak regularly on the phone. And it’s good to see United’s fans are starting to appreciate him more and have been happy with his form up until now.

“Nani is an excellent player. There’s a lot more to come from him and I’m sure that in a few years he will be among the best players in the world.”

Nani’s hopes of cementing a regular first team place improved with Ronaldo’s £80 million transfer to Spain.

He was excellent against Wolves in the Carling Cup in midweek but is likely to be relegated back to the bench for the weekend’s Premier League fixture at Stoke.

Gary Neville, who in is his time at United has seen many young talents come and go, believes the Portuguese needs to bide his time and not get frustrated at his lack of first team starts.

“It’s difficult to get games at this club as a young player, because you’ve got to be very talented and very good - which they are,” said Neville.

“During the season you always need to call upon your squad. There will be injuries in certain areas and those lads could be the ones who will be really important for us.”

“Momentum is very important. The reason we maybe started sluggishly in the first week of the season was because we probably weren’t at our optimum fitness levels.

“A lot of the players hadn’t played a lot of games, then a lot went away for the internationals, while some stayed back and trained.

“Some players got a couple of games in during the international break, so we came back from that in much better shape and since then we’ve done pretty well.

“We’re in a much better position at the moment, where everybody seems to be fit, and we’ve got players who are desperate to play.”