United stand firm over Ronaldo

Updated 16.00 Tue Jul 22 2008

Keywords: the glazers, ramon calderon, sir alex ferguson, real madrid, cristiano ronaldo, glazer family, david gill, manchester united, football, premier league, sport

Manchester United chief executive David Gill insists Real Madrid would be wasting their time making an offer for Cristiano Ronaldo.

After weeks of rumours, neither club has changed its stance.

"He is on a long-term contract with Manchester United and hence we will keep him at the club" - David Gill

United insist they do not want to sell their star player, but Real say they are interested, but only if United are willing to field offers.

Gill said: "We made it clear to them from day one we wouldn't welcome a bid, it wouldn't be accepted and therefore I don't think there is much point in putting one in.

"That's where we are at with the situation. Obviously there has been lots of paper talk and a lot of coverage in the media about it and we understand that.

"But the reality of it is we have been very firm from day one. Straight after the Champions League final, if you wind back the clock to say Cristiano is a great player, a great asset of Manchester United, he is on a long-term contract with Manchester United and hence we will keep him at the club."