He deffo didn't have 3.5 world class seasons, not by a long way.
Agreed. 07 - 08 was world class, the seasons either side of it were both very good but not quite at the same level.
He did however have 8 or 9 world class seasons at Madrid though, he delivered his absolute peak in a white shirt.
Well 06/07 was unquestionably a World Class season.
He won all major individual awards in the PL that year and finished 2nd in the BDOR. If that wasn’t a world class season then nobody in the PL has had a WC season.
08/09 for me was a world class season (maybe not Ronaldo class) but he was still topscorer for the team in all competitions and finished 2nd topscorer in the league despite missing early games due to injury. He was our best and most pivotal performer in the latter stages of the CL with a historic goal against Porto and a historic performance against Arsenal. It wasn’t as good as 07/08 and he was petulant but if it was another player you would say it was a World Class season.
So that’s 3 seasons already.
05/06 he was amazing after his 21st birthday and undoubtedly our best and most consistent performer in the 2nd half of the season which earned him a place in the PL team of the season.
All in all, in his 1st spell here he finished in the PL team of the season 4 times (all in a row).
So please explain to me how “he didn’t have 3.5 world class seasons by a long way” I’d really like to know.