Regardless of what Ronaldo publicly declares in his much-anticipated (but already overdue) statement on his future, the Premiership champions are adamant that he will not be sold this summer.
Contrary to previous reports, Sir Alex Ferguson has no intention of flying to Portugal's Euro 2008 base in order to persuade the player to stay at Old Trafford. Far from an admission that such an attempt would be futile, Ferguson apparently remains fully confident that, with Ronaldo's current contract due to expire in 2011, the club will not consider selling the forward even if he pleads for a transfer.
"The core structure of the club is adamant and of the same mind that we want Cristiano to stay for a long time," Ferguson commented two weeks ago and, if anything, that attitude has since hardened in response to what the club perceives as the underhand methods of Madrid. At the weekend, Ferguson revealed that the Glazer family, which owns the club, would prefer to see Ronaldo "rot" rather than sell him, and United have already threatened to report the Spanish outfit to FIFA over their public pursuit of the Portugal attacker.
That threat included a reminder of the 'fact that the player is on a long-term contract and his registration is held by Manchester United', as well as the vow that 'the player is not for sale', and United will not be shifted from that stance easily. Nor, according to reports, have they any intention of offering the player a new contract in order to placate him.
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