Man U blocks Cristiano Ronaldo's exit hopes

Cristiano Ronaldo has indicated his willingness to face down the Premiership boo-birds after being told in no uncertain terms Manchester United will not allow him to complete his dream move to Spain.

After being singled out as public enemy No. 1 in England following his involvement in Wayne Rooney's World Cup quarterfinal dismissal, the Portugal winger stated he could see no future for himself in Manchester.

Not content with that and outlining a firm desire to join Real Madrid or Barcelona, Ronaldo also took a swipe at Sir Alex Ferguson for failing to publicly back him over the Rooney incident.

Yet, if that move was designed to herald his departure from Old Trafford, Ronaldo has got his tactics badly wrong.

Instead of effecting the kind of irretrievable breakdown in his relationship with Ferguson that seems set to see Ruud van Nistelrooy leave, Ronaldo has only fueled the Scot's determination to make him honor the contract extension he signed only last season that will keep the 21-year-old at Old Trafford until 2010.

And, faced with the unequivocal knowledge that Manchester United "is not in the business of selling its best young players," Ronaldo, for the first time in a month, has raised the possibility he could still be a Red Devil when the new campaign gets underway against Fulham on August 20.

"Everything is open," he said. "If it is a question of staying it will be fine, if I leave it will also be fine. I have no reason to leave the club. They have always supported me, they always gave me guarantees of being able to evolve as a player.

"There are possibilities for me to continue at Manchester United but there are other possibilities as well. There is still nothing concrete."

Although Ronaldo is currently relaxing in his Madeira homeland, he indicated the issue of his future would be resolved "over the next few days."

That is likely to involve discussions between his agent, Jorge Mendes, and United chief executive David Gill, with Ferguson no doubt being briefed when he arrives in South Africa on Thursday morning, 24 hours before the remainder of his squad lands in Durban for the start of its three-match tour.

However, judging by the forceful nature of the statement released from Old Trafford, communication between Mendes and Gill could be brief.

"There is no possibility of Cristiano being sold," United said. "Cristiano recently signed a new contract until 2010 and the club fully expects him to honor it.

"The club will not listen to any offers for Cristiano. He is one of the brightest young stars in world football as demonstrated by his performances at the World Cup and Manchester United is not in the business of selling its best young players."

Indeed, United has tended not to be in the business of selling its best players of any description.

Not since Andrei Kanchelskis left for Everton in 1995 has Ferguson lost someone he desperately wanted to keep, and the winger's exit only came amid allegations of aggressive behind-the-scenes agitation from his advisors.

Ferguson clearly does not want to see one of his best young players leave for a major European rival, acknowledging the negative signal it would send out.

But while the Scot obviously believes he can smooth any lingering resentment between Rooney and Ronaldo once the players are reunited at the Red Devils' Carrington training base, there must be some possibility Ronaldo will just refuse to show up, throwing Ferguson back to his own strike-calling days as a shop steward on the Glasgow shipyards.