Ronaldo had expressed as desire to play in England again during his tax fraud case in Spain earlier this summer.
The Portugal international eventually remained at Real Madrid despite intense speculation he was set to join Manchester United.
And the Sunday Times claims a move back to Old Trafford was being considered by both Ronaldo and the two clubs at one point in the transfer window.
According to the report, Real president Florentino Perez was open to selling Ronaldo as he grew confident of landing replacement target Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe emerged as the hottest young talent in world football over the course of last season after a stellar campaign at Monaco.
Real were favourites to sign the 18-year-old and Mbappe himself even expressed a wish to join the Bernabeu side.
However, discussions with the player’s father did not go well and Mbappe eventually penned a loan deal with PSG which will become permanent next summer.
Unable to sign Mbappe, Perez would not sanction a move for Ronaldo to once again play for United, the Sunday Times claim.
The 32-year-old left United for Real in 2009 for a then-world record transfer fee of £80m.
That figure was trumped by Gareth Bale and Paul Pogba in subsequent years before Neymar completed his £200m move from Barcelona to PSG this summer.