Former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been praised by Sky Sports' team of pundits as they name him in their best ever Premier League XI.

Ronaldo, was initially seen as a risky signing by Old Trafford Sir Alex Ferguson.

But he went on to establish himself as one of the best players in the Premier League before joining Real Madrid for a then world record fee of £80 million.

He has gone from strength to strength since joining Madrid, being named as the 2013 World Player of the Year and he is currently the favourite to retain that award for 2014.

So much so, that he has been a long-term target for Man Utd with plenty of links suggesting he could move back to his old stomping ground in a lucrative deal this summer.

Chelsea's Filipe Luis says that Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to win the Ballon d'Or

Former Southampton star Matt Le Tissier has said that for him Ronaldo just edges out another former United player, David Beckham.

Le Tissier said "I'm just going with Ronaldo in front of David Beckham. Beckham was one of those players who did things on the pitch that would just make you laugh."

Former Arsenal man Paul Merson said that Ronaldo was on a different level saying "Ronaldo was something else.

"In those last two or three seasons at United he was just out of this world."

Another former Gunners, Charlie Nicholas recognised the incredible partnership Beckham had with Gary Neville, but pointed out that Ronaldo could do things that no-one else could.

Nicholas said "With Beckham, his work-rate and his partnership with Gary Neville were brilliant.

"But Ronaldo could do things that took the game to a different level.

"He could produce a five-second piece of genius that would create something out of nothing."