Man Utd In Pole Position To Secure £140m Ronaldo As Real Madrid Prepare To Sell

The summer transfer window may be closed but managers are already thinking ahead to future transfer windows so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Man Utd are once again linked with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Manchester United appear to be in pole position to land Cristiano Ronaldo in a deal that will cost around £140m as Real Madrid get ready to cash in on the Portuguese superstar next summer, according to reports.

Ronaldo has been linked with a return to Old Trafford over the past two years and it’s believed a deal was close back in the summer of 2013 before he eventually settled his contract dispute and signed a new five-year deal with Madrid.

However, talk of a move back to England has resurfaced amid reports of a fall-out with president Florentino Pérez after Ronaldo publicly questioned the clubs decision to sell Angel Di Maria and Xabi Alonso this summer.

Reports suggest that Perez is now open to the idea of cashing in on the player next summer and Europe’s leading clubs have been made aware of Ronaldo’s £380,000-a-week wage demands with Madrid looking for a £60m transfer fee.

With the Portuguese attacker believed to be seeking a four-year contract equating to nearly £20m-a-year , that would make the entire deal worth around £140m, which is a substantial investment for a player who turns 30 in February 2015.

That may not put off United however, with Louis van Gaal openly admitting earlier this month they would be interested in bringing Ronaldo back to Old Trafford and the player did little to dampen the speculation when he expressed his love for the club back in August.

“I love Manchester and you never know in football. Of course I’m happy at Real Madrid; it’s my home, it’s my club, but United treated me unbelievably, so you never know.

“I am still in contact with some people there because I had a good relationship with everybody – it was like my second family.” Ronaldo is quoted as saying by the Telegraph

The Telegraph claim that United are in pole position to pull off a stunning move to lure Ronaldo back to the Theater of Dreams as Manchester City have already ruled themselves out of the race as they look to comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules, while fellow big-spenders PSG could have trouble persuading the player to join them in Ligue 1.

The newspaper suggests that United could sell either Juan Mata or Robin van Persie to make room for Ronaldo, while they may also pull out of a deal to make Radamel Falcao’s move permanent next summer if he fails to justify his high transfer fee and wages.

It would certainly be an emotional return to United for Ronaldo. He spent six years at the club between 2003-2009 and forged his reputation as a world class performer which earned him his big-money move to the Bernabeu.

The United fans still adore him and the majority would love to see him come back ‘home’, even if he’d be considered something of a luxury signing given the need for van Gaal to address other areas of the squad.

It’s going to be extremely interesting to see how this all plays out but with tension increasing between Ronaldo and Perez, a move is becoming more and more likely and United have the finances and the emotional attachment to lure the player back to England.