Cristiano RonaldoCristiano Ronaldo is just six goals short of his impressive goal tally last season, flying high on the domestic stage as well as in the Champions League. He tops the highest scorer board in both competitions, firmly staking his claim for the top accolades next season after losing out to Kaka this year. He has been what has made the difference for us on so many occasions already, and is eager to drive United forward to further success in England and in Europe.

Over the past few weeks, in anticipation for the transfer window re-opening, there has been a lot of speculation linking Ronaldo with Real Madrid. Wild sums of money have been quoted for the 22 year old, who has never been shy of admitting his desire to play in Spain one day. However, earlier this week, Ronaldo came out reaffirming his wishes to stay with United, saying “I am at the ideal club to grow and to reach the summit.”

However, it was reported yesterday that Manchester United had put a £75 million price tag on Cristiano Ronaldo, in an attempt to test just how much Real Madrid wanted the player. Harry Harris of The Daily Express reported a leading agent said “a few days ago, as the transfer window opened, Real Madrid made it plain they would pay 60m euros (£44.3m), but Manchester United’s response was emphatic. They told Real not to come back with anything less than 100m euros (£73.9m) – and even then there is no guarantee that they would would take it.”

United fans across the country grumbled, believing that finally they were seeing the work of the Glazers in place. No amount of money is worth what Ronaldo brings to our team. There simply aren’t the players in the World who could replace him, so whether it was £40 million or £75 million, it wouldn’t be enough to plug the hole in the team his sale would leave.

However, Sir Alex Ferguson has moved to squash the rumours today, laughing off any talk of a prospective deal concerning our Portuguese winger. “It happens every year in the new year and you can expect some sort of speculation,” Ferguson said. “The thing with this is, Real are supposed to have spoken to us, and [the chief executive] David Gill is supposed to have spoken to them, but that’s just a lie. We’ve never spoken to them and they have never spoken to us. It’s mischievous to the best part, but I just dismiss it because it is nonsense. Who wouldn’t be interested in Ronaldo? That’s why we bought him.”

Ferguson said what we all wanted and needed to hear, not that we were seriously considering United letting Ronaldo go in January, because it’s important we have a better idea of what is going on behind the scenes. It is always safe to assume 99% of transfer rumours come the overactive imagination of some hack, rather than any real source, but it is still nice to have it confirmed regardless.

Ronaldo will more than likely leave the club someday, he’ll never become a proper red, but it’s important we cling on to him until he at least reaches his peak. It is mind blowing to consider just how good he can become in the future, when considering his ability now at just twenty two, and we need to make sure he’s wearing our shirt when he matures and reaches his full potential. One thing to be said though, with figures like £75 million being thrown around, paying just over £12 million for him is starting to look like some of the best business Ferguson has ever done!

So for now, he’s ours, but how long will it be until he signs for Real Madrid?