Sporting Lisbon coach Jorge Jesus has raised the prospect of Cristiano Ronaldo playing again for the club "at the age of 37 or 38" ahead of the Real Madrid forward's return to Estadio Jose Alvalade in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Ronaldo, who signed a new long-term contract with the European champions earlier this month, will return to face his former club for only the second time on Tuesday, having left as a teenager for Manchester United in 2003.
The Portugal captain has always been guarded about his future following the end of his time at the Bernabeu, and Jesus admits he still clings to the dream of Ronaldo once again wearing the green and white shirt of Sporting.
"Of course I would love to be the manager of the best player in the world," Jesus said at a prematch news conference in Lisbon. "Thinking about the future, I would love to be the manager of Cristiano Ronaldo.
"He has a contract with Real until he is 37 or 38 years old, but at that age, it would be great if he could come back to Portugal.
"It would be great to have him here, for the league and the supporters. That would be a dream, but I have my doubts that it will come true.
"He was born to be the player that he is today, but let's not forget his hard-working capability and the passion he has for the game."
Jesus' team must defeat Real, who have failed to win on their two previous visits to Sporting, in order to retain hope of qualification for the Champions League knock-out stages.
And Jesus admits his players must overcome Ronaldo and Real's depth of quality to claim a famous victory.
"In my opinion, we will play the best team in the world," Jesus said. "They won the Champions League last year and at club level, the winner of the Champions League is the best team in the world, not just Europe.
"They are second to none because the Copa Libertadores winners are not at the same level.
"Real can win any game at any moment, which is what they did to us in Madrid, but we want to put on the same kind of performance.
"We believe in our capabilities. We have a dream and that dream is to play as we did in Madrid and win the match.
"But Real have the best player in the world, the best goalscorer in the world, in Cristiano. It is not by chance that he scores so many goals.
"Real have many other star players, outstanding individuals, and when you play against teams who can turn the game upside down in a minute -- we were winning after 88 minutes but then conceded two goals in Madrid -- you have to respect the qualities of the opposition and there is always this danger with Real Madrid."