The fun begins again..............
Cristiano Ronaldo set to force £68m move from Manchester United to Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo will demand to be allowed to move to Real Madrid when he returns to Old Trafford on Tuesday after the Spanish champions publicly reiterated their desire to sign the Portuguese winger.
By Duncan White
Last Updated: 9:45PM BST 02 Aug 2008
On his way: Cristiano Ronaldo will insist United release him to Madrid Photo: Getty Images
After weeks of speculation, Ronaldo will attempt to force Manchester United's hand by meeting Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, and David Gill, the chief executive, to insist he be allowed to move to the Bernabeu.
Ronaldo was in Lisbon but is due to fly to Amsterdam to meet the surgeon who operated on his ankle, before flying to Manchester on Tuesday. In his absence, United beat Espanyol 1-0 in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's testimonial.
Bernd Schuster, the Madrid coach, confirmed that Real are continuing to work on a deal, with sources in Spain suggesting there has been a considerable softening in the English club's previously stubborn stance.
"We don't have any doubts that the club is working hard to get a solution to this matter," Schuster said.
"We'll have to see what's going to happen. We always knew that it was going to be a complicated matter. It will obviously not be easy for him to come to Madrid but put the question to any football coach and all of them would say they'd love to have a player like Ronaldo."
Ronaldo has told Madrid about his intentions in an attempt to appease their frustration at his lack of agitation for a move away from Old Trafford. Real will offer £68 million but need him to force United into the sale.
Real were finalising their signing of Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart from Hamburg – a move that does not affect their pursuit of Ronaldo.
However, if Ronaldo succeeds in getting United to sell him, it would allow Real to sanction the £30 million sale of Robinho to Chelsea, the terms of which have been agreed in principle. United would reinvest the money from any deal in pushing through their attempts to sign Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham.
United are believed to be negotiating with Spurs, trying to find the middle ground between their £24 million bid and Tottenham's £30 million valuation.
link