Boss Believes He Can Keep Ronaldo

Sir Alex Ferguson returns to work at Manchester United this morning after his holiday, convinced that he will triumph in the forthcoming battle of wills with Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portugal winger is determined to engineer a move to Real Madrid, but Ferguson is vehemently opposed to selling and will spend this week examining ways to strengthen his squad. While Ferguson has been disappointed by some of Ronaldo’s comments, he does not want to sell the player and is convinced that Ronaldo will drop the issue when he learns of the extent of United’s opposition to the sale. United have been encouraged that, despite frequent references to Ronaldo’s “dream” of joining Real, he has not demanded a move and that the statement he planned to make more than a week ago, in which he intended to plead with United to let him move to Spain, has not materialised.
Oliver Kay, The Times