Sir Alex Ferguson has reportedly cancelled plans to fly to Lisbon for peace talks with Cristiano Ronaldo in order to focus his attention on the task of buying Dimi Berbatov from Tottenham.
A week after returning to work following a one month holiday in the south of France, Ferguson was due to travel to Portugal for his first meeting with Ronaldo since a party at Old Trafford on May 22 to commemorate their Champions League triumph. It is thought that Ronaldo and Ferguson have not spoken, even on the telephone, since then, and the Manchester United manager has stubbornly refused to acknowledge Ronaldo's apparent desire to leave the club for Real Madrid.
However, according to The Times, Ferguson was 'ready to spring into action by flying to Portugal this morning to try to end the unedifying stand-off, but that trip has been cancelled, seemingly because the United manager has other priorities'.
That includes recruiting Berbatov, with United set to table a second and improved bid for the Bulgarian after Spurs rejected their opening offer of £20m on Friday. Berbatov, who is currently in Spain at Tottenham's pre-season training base, has made no secret of his wish to move to Old Trafford.
Yet the disclosure that Ferguson has cancelled plans to visit Ronaldo - The Times are unsure whether a meeting was scheduled or if the Scot was simply intent on arriving unannounced - is bound to be interpreted as evidence that he is now resigned to losing the Portuguese forward this summer.
'Visiting Ronaldo would have been a significant gesture from Ferguson - an act that was encouraged by Carlos Queiroz, who left his role as United assistant manager on Friday to take charge of Portugal,' reports The Times.
'Two summers ago, when Ronaldo was again making eyes at Real while fearing the fallout from his involvement in Wayne Rooney's red card for England against Portugal in the World Cup quarter-final, Ferguson succeeded in persuading him to return to Old Trafford, but there will be no such meeting this time unless the Scot can somehow find time to fly to Lisbon tomorrow before departing for South Africa the following day for the start of United's preseason tour.'
A week after returning to work following a one month holiday in the south of France, Ferguson was due to travel to Portugal for his first meeting with Ronaldo since a party at Old Trafford on May 22 to commemorate their Champions League triumph. It is thought that Ronaldo and Ferguson have not spoken, even on the telephone, since then, and the Manchester United manager has stubbornly refused to acknowledge Ronaldo's apparent desire to leave the club for Real Madrid.
However, according to The Times, Ferguson was 'ready to spring into action by flying to Portugal this morning to try to end the unedifying stand-off, but that trip has been cancelled, seemingly because the United manager has other priorities'.
That includes recruiting Berbatov, with United set to table a second and improved bid for the Bulgarian after Spurs rejected their opening offer of £20m on Friday. Berbatov, who is currently in Spain at Tottenham's pre-season training base, has made no secret of his wish to move to Old Trafford.
Yet the disclosure that Ferguson has cancelled plans to visit Ronaldo - The Times are unsure whether a meeting was scheduled or if the Scot was simply intent on arriving unannounced - is bound to be interpreted as evidence that he is now resigned to losing the Portuguese forward this summer.
'Visiting Ronaldo would have been a significant gesture from Ferguson - an act that was encouraged by Carlos Queiroz, who left his role as United assistant manager on Friday to take charge of Portugal,' reports The Times.
'Two summers ago, when Ronaldo was again making eyes at Real while fearing the fallout from his involvement in Wayne Rooney's red card for England against Portugal in the World Cup quarter-final, Ferguson succeeded in persuading him to return to Old Trafford, but there will be no such meeting this time unless the Scot can somehow find time to fly to Lisbon tomorrow before departing for South Africa the following day for the start of United's preseason tour.'
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