Spanish media upbeat about Cristiano Ronaldo move

Jun 6, 2008, 15:18 GMT

Madrid - The Spanish media is confident that Cristiano Ronaldo will, in the end, decide to leave Manchester United for their league in summer.

And this despite Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon saying, on Wednesday, that it was 'impossible' to buy the Portugal winger if United refused to sell him.

Calderon's desire to buy Ronaldo has been front-page news in Spain practically every day, since the 23 year-old helped United to win the European Champions League two weeks ago.

The Spanish media said that the player himself - encouraged by his family and friends - is keen to sign for Real.

Madrid sports daily Marca said on Friday that there is 'total agreement' between Real and Ronaldo about a five-year contract that would make him the best-paid player in the world, earning around 9.5 million euros (14.68 million dollars) per season.

Ronaldo is currently in the Portugal training camp preparing for the forthcoming European Championship finals in Austria and Switzerland.

Marca said last week that Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was advising Ronaldo to leave Manchester for Madrid.

United are furious at Real allegedly approaching a player under contract in this way, and have threatened to denounce the Spanish champions to FIFA.

Rival daily AS on Friday quoted Ronaldo as saying that 'I will join Real Madrid if they really will pay me what they say they will.'

And AS quoted Calderon as saying that 'it is a source of pride that a player of his calibre wants to come to Real Madrid.'

Calderon is desperate to bring some star-quality to his hard-working but unspectacular side, despite having just won back-to-back Liga titles.

He has promised the 'madridista' fans to bring in at least one 'crack' this summer - and is now working hard to keep that pledge.

Real, however, are not the only Spanish club interested in Ronaldo.

According to Catalan paper Sport, Barcelona might compete with historic rivals Real for the Portuguese superstar.

Barca president Joan Laporta is under massive pressure thanks to a members petition calling for a vote of no-confidence in him. This could lead to him bidding for Ronaldo in an attempt to distract attention away from his internal problems.

And Sandro Rosell - Laporta's former vice president turned critic - might be tempted to use the prospect of signing Ronaldo in a potential campaign to capture the presidency.