Manchester
United and Real Madrid reportedly have
a gentleman's agreement to transfer Cristiano Ronaldo to the
Bernabeu. The two team's agreed in principle to the deal at the end
of a bitter tug-of-war for the Portugal star in the summer - but
pledged a vow of silence, according to reports in
Spain.
However, a leak of the supposed agreement threatens to reopen
the feud between the clubs and scupper Ronaldo's dream of moving to
the Spanish champions. The information comes from Real Madrid
director Pedro Trapote, who is said to be very close to president
Ramon Calderon. And respected Madrid-based newspaper El Mundo reports that at least two
other senior members of the Bernabeu hierarchy are leaking similar
information.
The paper quotes a conversation between Trapote and a confidant
in which the director says that the deal is 'already done for the
summer'. He adds: 'It's better not say anything now because there
are some clauses that prevent us from announcing it. For us it
would be the right time, but we shouldn't do it.'
Ronaldo agitated for a move to Spain last summer after winning
the League and European Cup Double with Manchester United and
scoring more than 40 goals. There were suggestions that he was
seeking a new challenge after achieving everything he felt possible
in England. His mother, Dolores Aveiro, has also said it would be
her dream to see the 23-year-old play for Real.
United managed to hold on to the newly crowned Ballon d'Or
winner despite a very public courtship by Real. The battle seemed
to be over when Ronaldo spoke publicly on August 6 insist he would
be staying at United for the time being. But the suggestion in
Spain is that the former Sporting Lisbon winger only agreed to make
the pledge after making a pact with Sir Alex Ferguson that this
would be his last season at Old Trafford.
Real are struggling in the Spanish league, sitting in sixth and
12 points behind table-toppers Barcelona after a 2-0 defeat to
their great rivals at the Nou Camp on Saturday. That was Juande
Ramos's first League match in charge since taking over from Bernd
Schuster, who was sacked last week.
The suggestion is that Real are leaking the agreement over
Ronaldo in a bid to bring some joy to the fans during such a time
of crisis. The club are on the verge of completing a £22million
deal to sign
Portsmouth holding midfielder Lassana Diarra and
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar arrives in January.
But the club are still short of a winger, with both
Aston Villa's Ashley Young and
Tottenham's Aaron Lennon
in their sights. But a box-office move for the player widely
accepted as the best in the world would eclipse moves for either of
the England men.
No transfer fee has been suggested, but it would almost
certainly be bigger than the world-record £47m paid by Real to
Juventus for France star Zinedine Zidane in 2001.
El Mundo has a
reputation in Spain for leaning towards former Real Madrid
president Florentino Perez who is rumoured to be considering
standing for election again at the end of the season. It has been
suggested that current president Ramon Calderon is simply being
set-up for another fall by the claims.
The story appeared with the United hierarchy tied up at the Club
World Cup in Japan and with Champions League draw in Friday, that
could pair United with Real.
