If Manchester United supporters seemed prepared to give Cristiano Ronaldo the benefit of the doubt as question marks surfaced at the start of the summer about the Portugal forward’s commitment to the club, such backing appeared to have all but evaporated last night as fans lost patience with a player who has gone from hero to zero in seven bewildering weeks.

United’s following have clung wishfully to the hope that comments attributed to Ronaldo affirming his desire to move to Real Madrid have at best been fabricated, at worst misconstrued or misinterpreted. But the player’s alarming outburst this week has left no one in any doubt about his intentions.

Ronaldo’s badgering to leave has been reason enough for resentment, but it is his claims in a television interview during which he echoed the comments of Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, that his situation at Old Trafford is tantamount to slavery that has most outraged the United faithful and strengthened the feeling that there is no way back for a player who scored 42 goals last season.

As many fans wrestle with rising ticket prices during a sharp economic downturn, the attitude of a player who earns £120,000 a week — discounting the millions he receives from endorsement and sponsorship deals — likening his position to that of a slave has bred widespread contempt.

Much of the ire by United supporters in recent seasons has been directed at the Glazer family and the perceived never-ending commercialisation of the club, but the overwhelming message to the American owners from fans yesterday appeared to be to cash in on Ronaldo while they can. Real are thought to be prepared to stump up in excess of £60 million for the player. The consensus on message boards was that United should “bleed Real dry” for every penny the club can get, although a vocal minority called for Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, to let the player “rot in the reserves”, a threat that the Glazer family made some weeks ago.

Redcafe.net, one of the leading United forums, has received more than 15,000 posts on Ronaldo, most of which depicted in often graphic detail the extent of the deterioration of the player’s relationship with the fans, with “absolute disgrace” perhaps the most frequent and polite insult directed at the Portuguese.

Ronaldo is used to confronting and overcoming adversity, but while he received a warm welcome back from United supporters after his involvement in Wayne Rooney’s sending-off during England’s quarter-final defeat by Portugal in the 2006 World Cup, it remains to be seen whether the fans will forgive him if be stays at Old Trafford beyond this summer. The first clues should come this afternoon, when United face Aberdeen in a pre-season friendly at Pittodrie.

Even had he not been ruled out for up to three months with an ankle injury, Ronaldo would not have been at the match, although the fans’ reaction to his hankering for a move is likely to overshadow the result and the celebrations to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Aberdeen’s Ferguson-inspired European Cup Winners’ Cup victory over Real.

Although numerous conspiracy theories are doing the rounds, with some suggesting that the Glazers are prepared to sell Ronaldo and that United are happy for the speculation to continue because they have yet to sign anyone, amid fears that Ferguson has little money to spend, the overwhelming belief is that the club want to keep the player.

That battle, however, is likely to get harder after Carlos Queiroz became the new Portugal coach yesterday on a four-year deal. Ferguson was loath to lose his assistant, but despite offering Queiroz a significantly improved contract, the attraction of succeeding Luiz Felipe Scolari proved too great for the Portuguese to resist.