"In a game the most important thing is to win, and goals help to win."

That was Cristiano Ronaldo's verdict when asked why he doesn't perform as many skills since leaving Manchester United and the evolution of his game has been clear for fans to see.

When Ronaldo first pulled on the famous red jersey, he was dazzling defenders with a whole bag of tricks and delivering spectacular performances out wide.

Since leaving Old Trafford, though, the skill moves have declined with Ronaldo deploying a more efficient style of football that has arguably benefitted his career.

"You can mix - first goals, and after tricks and assists after. What the people want is goals, so I try to score goals," the 33-year-old continued during a 2017 interview.

Ronaldo's skilful performances

"I still do it (skills), not the same as at Manchester, but I still do it. Now I prefer goals, am focused more on goals. Skills comes third."

That's all well and good, but it hasn't stopped supporters from looking back at his fancy tricks from old and there's videos aplenty across YouTube.

Perhaps the most famous example is his blatant showboating in stoppage time against Arsenal or the remarkable Sporting Lisbon friendly that bagged him a United move in the first place.

Ronaldo vs Europe XI

But arguably his most eye-catching performance came in a bizarre match with a European XI at Old Trafford in 2007, against the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Steven Gerrard and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Remarkably, United bagged themselves a 4-3 victory and with no real stakes on the line, Ronaldo delivered his 'most entertaining football ever.'

The Portuguese was clearly having fun on the pitch, gliding past defenders with a number of skills and swanning into the penalty area without a care in the world.

It really is Ronaldo playing football eye-candy - check out the video below:

Come on Cristiano, bring back the skills.

It would be incredible to see Ronaldo deliver another performance like this for Juventus, catching defenders off guard with the style of football that made him.

Sadly, Ronaldo is having to be more canny with his showings in 2018 and having to perfect the nature of his game in order to succeed in his thirties.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has evolved into more of a poacher in recent years and true to form, he's nailed his new role and continued to provide goals.

It's an incredible career progression from skilful brilliance at United, prime performance at Real Madrid and ruthless goalscoring with Juventus.

And it's one of the biggest reasons that Ronaldo will go down as one of the greatest, with his ability to constantly reinvent himself staying true to his work ethic.

There's few better sights than Ronaldo having fun on a football pitch.

Do you think Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest of all time? Have your say in the comments section below.