Up to this point in his career, 30-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo has been a force to be reckoned with.

The goal scoring has put him at the top of the soccer universe with only one true rival for the mantle of best player in the world. While Ronaldo often had to sit in Lionel Messi's shadow for the best part of the last few years, Ronaldo has gotten the better of Messi in some areas, most notably goal scoring.

That said, Ronaldo is now 30 years, the age when careers turn a corner, the physical strength starts to wane and the inevitable decline grows ever closer to a full-blown realization.

Real Madrid has seemingly started the preparations for life without Ronaldo, bringing in a plethora of youth to build around Gareth Bale for his peak years over the next half decade.

Ronaldo remains on the team and is still undeniably the main man for Madrid. The question of course is for how long? And what can Madrid expect from its talisman in 2015-16?

The main point of concern is Ronaldo's tendinitis in his knees. Over the years the superstar has struggled with a chronic injury that has often left him hobbled and ineffective at times. Madrid saw it at the end of 2013-14 when Ronaldo was a shadow of himself throughout the home stretch of the season and then became a nonentity for most of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Early in 2015 he struggled as well, the wear and tear of the early season exploits wearing on him. That he regained his form at the end of the season to bag three straight hat tricks is a true marvel and a testament of the player's commitment to being the best.

Coach Rafa Benitez is likely to rotate Ronaldo a bit this season, thus ensuring that he is ready to go for the big games and rested in fixtures against minnows. Everyone knows that Ronaldo will want to see action in every game, and it is possible that he might strike a deal with Benitez to maximize his output. Ronaldo could be subbed off early against the Las Palmas of the world or even come on as a late sub in those games to pad his stats.

That could limit his goals and output, or it might simply have no major impact on the final numbers.

The position he plays will however impact his output greatly. Many have noted that Ronaldo could become the team's center forward, thus giving him every opportunity to be the top scorer on the team, bar none. This might either mean playing with Karim Benzema as part of a 4-4-2 or being the target man in Benitez's preferred 4-2-3-1. In this scenario one could expect Ronaldo to hit 50 goals for Madrid in all competitions for a sixth straight season.

However, if Benitez sticks with Benzema up top and puts Ronaldo on the wing with Bale in the hole, then things could get rather dicey for the superstar. Ronaldo is no longer the player he was in his mid to late 20s. He can score better than anyone, but his speed has dropped and his dribbling has also seen a decline. He can't make those darting runs up the sideline with the same panache and consistency. When you throw in his knee issues and it is dangerous to put him under that duress. With Bale sitting in the hole, it is more likely that the Welshman will find the net than his Portuguese club mate -- not a situation Ronaldo would be happy with. Instead of 50 goals, Ronaldo might see his totals dip below 40 for the entire season.

No one really knows what to expect from this superstar. Ronaldo has seemingly become a more consistent goalscorer as he has grown older with the 2014-15 showing him set career-highs for goals scored in all competitions (61) and in La Liga (48).

At worst, Ronaldo will still bag north of 40 goals in all competitions. At his best, 55-60 is still a major possibility. Who knows, if he hits hat tricks the way he did last season (eight), then he could top the 61 he scored.

For some perspective, here is a rundown of Ronaldo's goal scoring since 2010-11.

2010-11: 53

2011-12: 60

2012-13: 55

2013-14: 51

2014-15: 61