Manchester United are refusing to give up on the return of Cristiano Ronaldo this summer, and have assigned significant extra resources to try to make the move happen.
The club have already been working intensively on the deal since January, having received indication at that point that the Real Madrid forward was open to heading back to Old Trafford.
The events of the past month have complicated the issue, however, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement causing Ronaldo to reconsider his options and Madrid now determined to tie the player to a new contract at all cost. The Futboleros programme on Spanish TV station La Sexta reported earlier this week that Ronaldo is on the verge of signing a new deal at the Bernabeu.
President Florentino Perez would see it as a particularly unwanted blow to the club’s prestige to lose both Jose Mourinho and Ronaldo in the same summer, regardless of the purchase of anyone like Gareth Bale or Luis Suarez, and indeed has claimed the Portuguese will retire at the Bernabeu.
