Cristiano Ronaldo was vilified for his winking antics in the World Cup finals in Germany last summer, his reputation in tatters in the flash of an eyelid. The role of the Portugal winger in the dismissal of Wayne Rooney, his Manchester United team-mate, in England's quarter-final defeat in Gelsenkirchen enraged observers worldwide.

No more so than in England. Ronaldo, on his return to these shores in the Barclays Premiership, was Public Enemy No.1. Yet having made his peace with Rooney, it now appears that he has wooed his detractors and entranced a nation, too. If proof were needed, his nomination on the six-man shortlist for the Professional Footballers' Association player-of-the-year award is it.

Ronaldo has shone like a jewel in United's glittering season. His "tumbling" may have been reduced to a minimum but the "King of the Stepover" has added a glut of goals to his considerable armoury. Love him or still loathe him, he would be a worthy winner when the award is announced on Sunday.

Few would disagree if Didier Drogba were to take the top honour, either.

Despite an apparently natural antipathy towards all that is Chelsea - don't you just hate persistent winners? - the deadly accuracy of the Ivory Coast striker has rescued many a lost cause for the dual Premiership champions this season.

Steven Gerrard, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Francesc Fabregas - the other nominees - have their merits, too, but it would appear to be a two-horse race. Ronaldo and Fabregas are also up for the young player-of-the-year award but, on the basis that one bauble should be enough, the former is unlikely to complete the double.

Rooney, Kevin Doyle, Aaron Lennon and Micah Richards are vying for the tag as Best Young 'Un as well. Fabregas might have lifted the title had Arsenal achieved anything of note this season, with Rooney a better bet. If only he would smile a bit more?

The romantics would go for Doyle, rubberstamping Reading's meteoric rise to top-flight prominence, yet Lennon might get the nod. Tottenham Hotspur have endured a frustrating so-close-but-so-far campaign but everyone likes a flying winger. Ronaldo, at his most fluent, is the prime example.