Ricardo said: “I am very happy here in Spain but also I was very happy in Manchester.

“I have come back to Spain because I wasn’t having many first team chances with the four goalkeepers and it is better for me to play a good season here and then go back to Manchester as I need to play regular football.”

American Tim Howard has taken ownership of the goalkeeping gloves at Old Trafford since his summer move to Manchester with Frenchman Fabien Barthez out of favour at United.

Howard has been sensational in his first season, but Ricardo is confident he can stake his own claim when he returns to England.

He continued: “It is my dream to play in goal for Manchester United and I have one year left on my contract with them.

“I am trying to have a good season here so that I can be in good form when I return and make the most of my chance.

“I am a little disappointed by my chances last season with only five games in the first team but it is Manchester United and now I am working hard.

“I was really happy there and I feel that the fans really love me and I remember the way they applauded me after the Blackburn game.”

Ricardo says he and his family had settled in well at Manchester.

“I like Manchester very much and my family and children were very happy there, it is good for them to experience a different culture but the lack of opportunity made me come back for the time being.”

Ricardo is one of Spain’s top keepers, having played for Atletico Madrid and Real Valladolid, and having gone to the 2002 World Cup with the national side.

He believes there is little difference these days between training methods across Europe but rates facilities at United as the best.

“European football is very similar now with fewer and fewer local players and more going abroad, and the same is true of the style of training which was more or less the same at Valladolid, Atletico and Manchester,” he said.

“But the quality of facilities at Manchester is higher, I realised that the first day I arrived here at Racing.

“Carrington is the best training ground in Europe.”

While Alex Ferguson’s temper is renowned, Ricardo denied that it was a problem for him and that it helped to motivate the players.

“Alex Ferguson has been fine with me, the players find him very friendly but before the game the players also have a great respect for him as well,” he said.

“He is hard when the team needs it but then afterwards he is fine and I think that you need to be like that.

“He gets very angry when the results are bad for example when we lost 3-1 against Manchester City last season – but then we went on to win the league and reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League so in the end it was positive.”

Ricardo also has a good rapport with the players.

“I spoke with Diego Forlan and Ruud van Nistelrooy when I came here and I receive texts from the players,” said Ricardo.

“I think that Forlan is a very important player for United and I am glad to see him playing well and scoring regularly.”

Ricardo has also been in contact with David Beckham in Spain and said: “I said when David Beckham came to Spain that the best players do not need time to adapt and David Beckham is a great player and has shown that in the games he has played so far.

“The people love him here. He is a very good person, last month when I played against Real Madrid he waited for me at the end of the game.

“I spoke with him and he told me that he is very happy in Madrid and when I asked him how was his Spanish he said, ’muy bien’ (very good).”