The embers from the most popular transfer story of the summer
are still glowing as the Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid rumours
once again fill the back pages.
According to the Times, the Portuguese international has liaised
with his agent Jorge Mendes about a possible move to the Primera
Division holders and a verbal agreement has been struck with former
Real president Pérez.
Reports in Spain state that Pérez will then use this promise in
order to broker full support for his presidency election in
2010.
Cristiano Ronaldo's team-mate in the Portuguese national team,
Pepe, is under no illusions as to where the future of the wing
wizard lies, and is quoted by the Times as saying:
"He has shown he wants to come here with the statements he has
made.
"We’ll see if he still desires to join us this summer," he
added.
Crucially, there are no direct quotes attributed to either
Ronaldo's agent Mendes or former Merengues' president Pérez.
And, despite being a reputable newspaper, the Times' track
record of the Ronaldo stories has bordered on sensationalist
claims.
On June 10 the broadsheet ran a story indicating that Real would
table a world record £60 million bid in order to test Manchester
United's resolve.
Then, on September 3, they published rumours stating that in
light of Manchester City's new found wealth, the Abu Dhabi-based
business group had freed up funds for the benchmark of all transfer
splurges, as a £135 million bid for Ronaldo would follow offers for
Spanish hit-man Fernando Torres and Arsenal lynchpin Cesc
Fabregas.