BEIJING,
March 22 -- Real Madrid are ready to pay Manchester United a club record 80
million euros (105 million U.S. dollars) to land Portuguese winger Cristiano
Ronaldo, Spanish sports daily AS reported on Wednesday.
Ronaldo's future at Old Trafford has been a constant
subject for speculation with Spanish media saying for months he will end up at
the Bernabeu.
If Real do stump up and convince the 22-year-old
starlet his future does lie in La Liga then the Spanish giants would smash the
former record of 75 million euros paid to Juventus to land now retired French
star Zinedine Zidane in 2001, AS said.
AS and rival sports daily Marca said last week that
Ronaldo, whose contract at Old Trafford runs to 2010, wanted to come to Spain
with Real or Barcelona his mooted destinations.
Contract talks over an extension at United have not
yet reached a breakthrough but on Sunday United coach Alex Ferguson voiced
confidence his star will stay with the English Premiership leaders for years to
come.
"I'm confident he will be a United player," Ferguson
said regarding a proposed two-year extension to Ronaldo's existing deal.
The player has hit 16 goals this season but was
involved in a "diving" storm after winning the penalty which saw United see off
Middlesbrough to boo their passage to the FA Cup semi-final. Ronaldo himself
converted the spot-kick.
LONDON, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cristiano Ronaldo should leave
Manchester United and join Barcelona for a better playing career, Portugal coach
Luiz Felipe Scolari said on Monday.
Ronaldo's brilliant form for United this season has
attracted interest from Barca and Real Madrid, but Old Trafford's boss Alex
Ferguson has made it clear the Portugal winger is not for sale.
Despite Ferguson's insistence, reports from Spain
suggested the two Spanish giants are set to launch a bid to lure the 22-year-old
in an expensive spending of up to 40 million
pounds.
BEIJING, March. 16 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid is
reportedly confident of signing Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo at the end
of the season.
In a story headed "This one will get the Bernabeu on its
feet," sports daily Marca said yesterday that Real president Ramon Calderon has
made the Portugal forward's signing "an absolute priority" even though "he will
cost a fortune."
Calderon has reportedly been informed by Real's sports
director Predrag Mijatovic and marketing director Jose Angel Sanchez that the
deal would be "viable and profitable" despite the size of the transfer fee.
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