Cristiano Ronaldo's luxury Lamborghini car has been chased outside Man United's training base by a sign-wielding superfan, pitching up at 6am in the hope of a photo with his hero.
While shirts bearing Ronaldo's name and iconic reclaimed No7 have been flying off the pegs at United, obsessive Ali Masood has a unique item of CR7-themed clothing in the form of a t-shirt that appears to show him posing for photos with one of the Portugal captain's sons, Cristiano Ronaldo Jr, and his Sporting Lisbon-supporting mother, Maria Dolores.
Masood also wore a lanyard showing Ronaldo at Real Madrid, the club where he spent a spectacularly successful nine years upon leaving United in 2009, as he waited outside United's Carrington complex in Manchester at 6am UK time on Thursday morning.
"Welcome back, Ronaldo," Masood had written on a rectangular piece of cardboard, along with the message: "Please take a picture with me."
All eyes were on Ronaldo a few hours later when he went through his paces in another of his first training sessions with the club since his stunning switch from Italian giants Juventus.
Painfully for Masood, his early rise proved in vain as the five-time Ballon d'Or winner whizzed past him in his gleaming motor on his way in, leaving the local man chasing theatrically after the vehicle for the benefit of the assembled cameras who are inevitably following Ronaldo's every move.
"I'm going to see Ronaldo – I want to take a selfie with him," beamed Masood, speaking to Sky Sports on a sunny daybreak in the leafy setting.
"He's an amazing guy, a fantastic guy. I think he's going to make the Premier League and Champions League this year. I'm 100 percent confident."
The devotee explained that he had taken a taxi from the town of Blackburn, which is around 36 miles from Carrington, to be one of the first people to see Ronaldo arrive.
"I will get my photograph, definitely," he predicted, grinning and cooing when he was interviewed about his hopeful expedition.
Some viewers noted that mega-rich Ronaldo appeared to be driving a Lamborghini Urus for the occasion, which costs around $235,000 without any personalizations.
Speculation around Ronaldo's potential departure from Juventus escalated when the 36-year-old moved his fleet of supercars, thought to be worth around $23.5 million, from Turin to Madrid in May.
"Tears – he drove past him," rued one observer after watching the footage of Masood's initial failure to secure the photo he craves.
Others suggested that moves should be made online to ensure that Masood's wish is met, while a less impressed United fan declared: "That's called stalking, where I come from. Weird little man."
Ronaldo could make his second debut for the Premier League heavyweights – and his first appearance for the club for more than 12 years – when Newcastle visit Old Trafford on Saturday.
United's social media team published photos of their newest signing sprinting on the training pitch, looking sharp during a rare 10-day break from playing that has been partly enforced by a suspension courtesy of a yellow card in World Cup qualifying.
The striker's partner, Georgina Rodriguez, shared a photo of the pair together on Monday, adding: "How I missed living in the UK."
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