[theo kawala]

Cristiano Ronaldo is dreaming of winning major honours with Manchester United.

For long stretches of the summer, it appeared the Portugal winger would not even be at Old Trafford, let alone helping the Red Devils win trophies.

Vilified for his part in England's World Cup downfall and his head turned by the possibility of a lucrative offer from Real Madrid, Ronaldo seemed certain to quit the hurly-burly of Premiership life.

The lure of sunnier climes in Spain or Italy must remain an enticing prospect for a 21-year-old brought up on the holiday island of Madeira.

Yet for now, judging not just by his stellar performances on the pitch this season but also his wholehearted effort on the training ground and his relationship with Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo is totally committed to the United cause.

Although he may already have FA Cup and Carling Cup winners' medals to show for his time at Old Trafford, Ronaldo believes it is time to grab one of the really big prizes.

"This is a great time for me," he said. "The team are playing well and I am really happy here.

"Now, my dream is to win the Premiership and Champions League with United. I have won other competitions but they are the trophies I really want.

"I know it will be difficult but we are a good side and if we continue to work hard, anything is possible."

For one of the few times this season, Ronaldo was overshadowed by Rooney in Tuesday night's three-goal triumph over FC Copenhagen.

Largely, the winger has been the Red Devils stand-out performer, a quite remarkable achievement given the sustained abuse he received from opposition fans in the opening weeks of the campaign.

Sir Alex Ferguson, having refused to be swept along by all the talk of Ronaldo's prospective departure, could not have asked for a better response from the youngster, who admits the negative reaction from the stands has no impact on him whatsoever.

"I don't care about the booing," he said.

"At the moment, everything is fine. We have made a very good start to the Premiership and the Champions League and we just want to keep it going. That is all I care about."

Although still capable of the most outrageous skill - he controlled one far-post cross in the second half last night, then started juggling the ball before it got anywhere near the ground - Ronaldo finally seems to be striking the right balance between exhibition and effectiveness.

Both Ferguson and assistant Carlos Queiroz have suggested he could eventually go on to become the best player in the world.

Two-footed, lightning quick, tall, strong and good in the air, Ronaldo certainly has all the attributes required.

With a European Championship final and a World Cup semi-final under his belt, Ronaldo already has more on his CV than Rooney and the youngster feels he is also benefiting from added maturity this season.

"I have changed a few things about my game but I am also more experienced and more mature," he said, having also gained an excellent command of the English language.

"But I also feel the team is more compact. Training has been really good, which is one of the major differences from last year and everyone is ecstatic."

Ecstatic is certainly a sentiment that could be used for Ferguson's mood after three successive European wins have helped banish the nightmare of last season.

Although the United boss put that particular failure down to the relative inexperience of an injury-ravaged squad, the Scot's argument does not stand up to intense scrutiny and he was acutely aware any repeat would undermine his own position, 20th anniversary celebrations pending or not.

Instead, the Red Devils are now in the happy position of knowing a point from the return clash with Copenhagen in the Danish capital on November 1 will ease them into the last 16 with two games to spare.

"We created a few chances we should have taken last night but overall, the result spoke for itself," said Ronaldo.

"It means if we win the next game, we are into the second round, which is what we all wanted at the start of the season.

"We didn't do very well in the Champions League last year. We all remember that and we didn't want to suffer the same experience again."