Money no object for Real

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon insists the Spanish giants have the money to buy Cristiano Ronaldo.

Although Alex Ferguson has claimed Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family, would not sell the 23-year-old superstar ’at any price’, should they ever let Ronaldo leave, the price would almost certainly go beyond the £40m Real paid for Zinedine Zidane six years ago.

Yet Calderon claims no price is too high for the player widely regarded as the best in the world.

“What I have always said is that this club wants its money to be on the pitch, not in the bank,” he said.

“Nothing is expensive or cheap on its own. The counter-balance is what you receive for the price you pay. They know what we earn and it is made public that Madrid has it.

“Last year we made signings that looked expensive but now they look cheap.”

Calderon feels it is still unlikely Ronaldo will leave Old Trafford, a stance that will delight United’s hierarchy who, after the threat of FIFA’s involvement, feel the message is starting to get home.

However, in pointing out the player has four years left on the contract he signed 12 months ago, the Red Devils feel they are making their position known to Ronaldo as much as Real.

It is still not entirely clear why the winger stated his situation would be resolved ’within 48 hours’ on Sunday when no talks are planned or intended.

If Ronaldo feels he can squeeze more money out of United chief executive David Gill, he may be in for a shock.

Ferguson today insisted he is more convinced than ever Ronaldo will remain at Old Trafford.

“I’m very confident about that,” he told The Sun.

“It’s a game Real play all the time. In the past they’ve done it with David Beckham; they’ve done it with (Ruud) Van Nistelrooy; they’ve done it with my fitness coach last summer – so we’re used to it.

“I am more than confident Cristiano will be with us next year. The Glazer family will not be messed about in this situation.

“We want Cristiano to stay for a long, long time. He is on a fantastic contract and quite rightly so – he’s the best player in the world.”

Meanwhile, one deal that is reaching a conclusion is Patrice Evra’s contracts talks with United.

Although Evra is now on Euro 2008 duty with France, he has been informed the matter is virtually done as only very minor alterations are likely once the respective lawyers have done their work.

It is not known whether Evra will sign his contract during the European Championships or at their conclusion before he heads off for a short summer break.

However, it seems Ferguson has completed a clean sweep of the renewals he wanted to achieve, leaving him purely to sort out transfer business.

While Mikael Silvestre and Louis Saha could be offloaded at any point during the summer, it is thought more likely Ferguson’s signings will be done at the end of the month.