Ronaldo, Not for sale even at £120million
Manchester
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has
declared the club would turn down any offers of £120million from
Manchester City or Real Madrid for World Player of the Year
Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ferguson made his startling announcement last night following AC
Milan's decision to accept a world-record bid of £110million from
City's Abu Dhabi billionaires for Brazilian superstar Kaka.
The United manager went on to insist the decision to make
Ronaldo 'unsellable' at any price had come from American owners the
Glazer family, despite United carrying an estimated debt of
£700million in the middle of a global credit crunch.
A bullish Ferguson, whose side face Derby County this week for
the right to play in the Carling Cup final at Wembley, also
predicted last summer's transfer saga involving Ronaldo and Real
Madrid would not be repeated with the resignation of Real President
Ramon Calderon following a vote-rigging scandal.
strong position: Sir Alex Ferguson
While the arrival of City's oil-rich owners threatens to
change football as we know it, Ferguson was quick to assert his
star asset was beyond even their financial muscle.
He said: 'Kaka is one of the top three players in the world and
if he's worth £100million, so are Lionel Messi and Ronaldo. You
could argue Ronaldo is worth £120million because he is the World
and European Player of the Year.
'But there is no chance the owners would want to sell him even
if City came calling with £120million this summer. I am absolutely
sure of it.
'They want him here even more than me. They are strong about
that.' Predictably, Ferguson has been delighted to see the back of
Calderon, whom he blames for trying to unsettling Ronaldo last
summer. And in his most optimistic message yet, he indicated the
war by Real Madrid to land Ronaldo was now disappearing.
'We are in a strong position with Ronaldo. We did our hard work
in the summer to settle him down and we did well. He's fully
settled here. 'I expected it all to surface again this month but
it's been quiet. Maybe it's because Calderon has had his wings
clipped.
'Do you think I would do a deal with Real Madrid? We've done our
hard work and that is the end of the matter. 'Cristiano has made
the point that he could only have won all the awards he's been
winning lately by being at Manchester United. He knows that and we
are proud of the boy because he's the first United player and the
first player based in England to win the World award.'
Ferguson also indicated talks will start soon about offering
35-year-old Ryan Giggs a new contract. Giggs, United's record
appearance-holder, was widely praised for his performance in the
vital 3-0 win against Chelsea last weekend. 'He has got to be
considered world-class even at his age,' said Ferguson. 'He is
incredible and would deserve to be among the candidates for
Footballer of the Year.'