Cristiano Ronaldo shows off new hair style

Old Trafford supporters wound back the locks to the superstar's formative days at United in 2003, with comments like: "The old Cristiano is back" and "Ronaldo should keep the long hair. Nostalgic."

Barely seven weeks ago, Ron put up pictures of girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez giving him what seemed to be a substantial trim as they sat outside their property in his home town of Madeira, Portugal.

But back in Italy, with Juve revving up to full training again, Ronaldo sported a long, wavy, youthful look.

And as United fans thumbed through old photos, his Instagram followers gave a thumps-up to his new one.

Verdicts included: "Love this new hairstyle" and "Sooooo approved" - while one cut to the chase: "Wtf, long hair takes 10 years of Ronaldo’s face. He’s hot again.."

But a sharper-eyed supporter on Twitter suggested ex-Real Madrid superstar Ron and Barcelona legend Lionel Messi could be renewing their duel - by both having haircuts from their early playing years.

He said: "Ronaldo and Messi’s hair is reminding us of them in their younger days at Man Utd and Barca....... Things are gonna get interesting from here... Same old look and the rivalry."

With Ron now 35, and Messi 33 next month, one fan sniped at the snip of CR7 by claiming: "Back to when he was good."

But with the pair still commonly rated the top two players on the planet, that jibe was very much a fringe opinion.