Barcelona last night denied making an illegal approach to
Cristiano Ronaldo's agent but underlined their desire to take the
Manchester United winger to the Nou Camp.
The European champions' sporting director Txiki Begiristain met
Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes at London's Hyde Park Hilton Hotel on
Tuesday and then sat next to his long-time friend and associate at
the Emirates Stadium as Portugal played Brazil that same
night.
Last night Ronaldo stated in a magazine interview that he was
attracted to Spanish football but wanted to remain at United, and
Begiristain confirmed Barcelona's interest. Begiristain said: "It's
true that we met but I don't want it to appear that Cristiano
Ronaldo was the only subject we talked about. "Mendes is my friend
and we speak often. This meeting had been arranged for a long
time.
"Of course, it is logical that we are interested in Ronaldo but I
must stress that we are a big club and we will work in the proper
way." It is understood that Begiristain was given the go-ahead by
Barcelona to pursue Ronaldo last week after a meeting at the Nou
Camp concluded that the club could afford to put together one of
the most expensive packages in football history.
Vice-president Ferran Soriano said: "We have looked at it and we
are able to do this project." But United chief executive David Gill
has already stressed that even a £45million bid would not be enough
to buy a player contracted to the club until 2010 and Ronaldo is
also keen to stay at Old Trafford and win the Premiership.
Ronaldo said: "I've got a contract with United. If they speak to
anyone it's my agent, not me. I told my agent I'm happy here and
want to continue. "It's a kind of football in Spaint hat attracts
me, but at the moment I don't want to leave here. I've been here
for a while and every year I try to get better and better.
"I've had to adapt to the culture, the football, the life and I
think I've adapted well. "It's more or less what I expected to
happen. I'm enjoying my career here. "We've got a good lead in the
Premiership and the chances of winning the league this year are
great.
"Chelsea are a great team, but we're on the right path. "We're
playing good football, we've been the consistent team and if things
continue that way we can win the championship. "My dream of winning
the league is very much alive. "I want to win all the trophies. It
could almost be the perfect year." Speaking in this month's issue
of 4-4-2 magazine, Ronaldo speaks about life after football and
will raise a few smiles with his assertion that he would like to
become an actor after his playing career ends.
He added: "I could see myself as an actor further down the line -
that could be interesting. "Playing the role of a comedian is more
difficult, but I might be capable of doing anything. I have a wide
range of tastes, but it is something to think about one
day."
