Speculation linking Cristiano Ronaldo to his former club Manchester United has intensified, following revelations that the Portuguese star made a ‘secret’ house-hunting trip to the UK last month.

According to reports in national newspapers in the UK, the 32-year-old also checked out a number of private prep schools for his seven-year-old son Cristiano Jr during his low-key visit.

The Mirror alleges that the Real Madrid superstar wants his children to receive an education fit for royalty, and has been looking into a number of schools on par with the Thomas’s Battersea prep school, attended by Prince George. Thomas’s charges fees of £17,600 per year – a mere drop in the ocean for Ronaldo, who earns a reported £365,000 per week at Los Blancos.

House-hunting in Surrey and London

The original story’s unnamed source also claims that CR7 has been house-hunting in London and Surrey, amidst rumours that he has asked Real to lower the price of his buy-out clause ahead of a potential move away from the Santiago Bernabeu. “He’s looked at possible homes in Leatherhead in Surrey and even a flat in London. It’s obviously something he’s very seriously considering,” the source reportedly told The Mirror.

Ronaldo is a doting father who regularly speaks of his children in media interviews. At the start of the month, he spoke about Cristiano Jr. during an interview with David Ginola. “I see a bit of myself in Cristiano Jr, and not only because he’s my son,” the Portugal captain said. “He told me he will be better than me – he tells me he will win a Ballon d’Or and that he can win five.”