July 7, July 17 now Aug 8 - Real Extend Ronaldo Time Limit

zocoss SG

Los Merengues believe that the Portuguese star's return to Manchester next week will finally produce a decision one or the other as he is due to have talks with United.

AS believe that Madrid have a private agreement over personal terms with Ronaldo and now they must wait and see if the player will force his way out of Old Trafford.
The saga continued throughout the summer with the Spanish giants' quest upsetting their Premier League peers and the whole plan could still end with the player staying in England.

Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, is said to still be in regular contact with Madrid, but he will not state either way what wil be decided until United have had there say.

Having set an original deadline of July 7, that was then extended to July 17 and now things are being extended into August with an outcome not looking any closer.

Sir Alex Ferguson returned from a meeting with the former Sporting star in Portugal and said he was confident that there would be no transfer while United's owners, the Glazer family, do not want to sell.

In Spain, Madrid president Ramón Calderón appears to have put all his hopes of recovering from failing to land either Kaká or Cesc Fàbregas on signing Ronaldo. The media are slowly ensuring that other players are brought into the equasion in case nothing happens with Rafael Van der Vaart and now David Villa being linked to a move to the Bernabéu.

jonchao72 SG

lame sia RM... always extend

iceFatboy SG

well, they can't give him number 7, so now 88, then it will be 99, then 00...

zocoss SG

The moment of truth is here. The Cristiano Ronaldo transfer saga is predicted to finally come to a close this week with the player himself expected to confront Sir Alex Ferguson and the Manchester United owners to sort out his Old Trafford future once and for all.

It is most likely to be a battle of wills: a question of whether the Portuguese can convince his manager to let him go or whether the Scot can persuade his superstar to stay.

Over in the Iberian Peninsula, meanwhile, the thorn in Manchester’s side all this while, Real Madrid, are already jumping the gun and they appear to have set a presentation date for the wing-wizard: August 15.

Madrid are believed to have tabled a final bid of around €75 million for Ronaldo, but the final figure is likely to come closer to €85 million, with the English champions looking to milk the Spanish champions for everything they have.

A large chunk of Madrid’s money will come from the sale of Robinho to Chelsea, a transfer that is almost certain to materialize if Los Blancos get the green light from the Red Devils to move in for Ronaldo.

If the deal does go through, it is expected to be one of the most highly anticipated player presentations in history, overshadowing even that of David Beckham’s.

zocoss SG

RONALDO RETURN EXPECTED THIS WEEK

Cristiano Ronaldo should be given the green light to step up his recovery programme this week. While talk of a showdown between Ronaldo and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson seems to have dominated certain agendas, particularly in Spain, the Red Devils are more concerned about the 23-year-old's recent ankle operation.

Indeed, United officials have reacted with some amusement to news of potential negotiations between Ronaldo and Ferguson, not least because the Portugal winger is not due to fly into England until later this week at the earliest.

Reports in Spain a fortnight ago suggested Tuesday would be the day Ronaldo told Ferguson face-to-face of his desire to leave for Real Madrid. However, that will not be the case given he is now due to visit a specialist in Amsterdam to discover how successful his surgery has been.

Only then is Ronaldo set to report in at Carrington, meaning it will be the end of the week at the earliest before he can speak with Ferguson. And given the United boss is under the impression both men discussed what they had to during a meeting following Portugal's exit from Euro 2008, he is not expecting any further dialogue about Ronaldo's future.

The Red Devils - and Ferguson in particular - have made their position perfectly clear on the matter - Ronaldo, after just one season of a five-year contract, is going nowhere, no matter what price is placed on his head by officials at the Bernabeu.

It is a situation Real president Ramon Calderon may find difficult to stomach but could be forced to accept given his repeated recent protestations that his club do not want to get involved in luring Ronaldo away from Old Trafford and will only act once Old Trafford officials signal their willingness to do a deal.

Such statements have been greeted with mirth at United given the blame being placed at Calderon's door for the discussion over Ronaldo's future, which began almost as soon as the player got his hands on the Champions League trophy in Moscow last May.

Although United have a healthy disregard for reports that come out of Spain, claiming most, including those that stated Ronaldo would return on Tuesday, have been proved false, they are aware most of them originate from Real.