No New Deal For Ronaldo

David Gill denied rumours that the club is preparing to hand Cristiano Ronaldo a new contract which would make him the world's highest-paid player.

Old Trafford have forgiven Ronaldo who spent the biggest part of the summer angling for a move to Real Madrid but a new contract when his old one runs until 2012 would surely be too much, especially as he started the season in poor form following his surgery.

There are no hard facts in this saga: rumours about a new contract are just rumours and Gill hasn't actually said anything: newspapers quote sources close to the chief executive. They also speculate that handing a new contract to Ronaldo would send out a wrong message at a time when the club insisted that Real's overtures would be resisted in any case.

Sir Alex, on the other hand, is believed to be supporting the idea of a new deal which would make sure that Ronaldo stays true to his promise of staying for another two years. However, I find it hard to believe that Fergie is ready to upset the wage structure to that extreme in order to keep one player - though I admit that an exceptional one.

The war of words between Fergie and Calderon is funny in a way but the charm is wearing off now and soon boredom will kick in. It'd be better to simply take Real Madrid and Ronaldo off the agenda: the Spanish club, whatever they say now, will be back in full force for the best player in the world by the end of the season anyway so let's leave the matter to rest until that.

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