Man Utd manager Ferguson rubbishes Ronaldo transfer rumours

Sir Alex Ferguson has rubbished speculation linking Cristiano Ronaldo with a shock move to Spanish champions Real Madrid.

Ferguson, whose team face Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, has seen the Portuguese winger constantly linked with moves to Real or Barcelona in recent seasons.

The 22-year-old fuelled the speculation following the 2006 World Cup by admitting he wanted to play in La Liga at some stage in his career, but United fought off huge interest from Real and Barca to persuade the youngster to commit himself to a new five-year contract last year.

However, renewed speculation has suggested that Ronaldo could be the subject of a world-record 75 million pounds (148 million dollar) bid from Real, but Ferguson insists that the talk is no different to what he has come to expect.

He said: "I anticipated this. It happens every year in the New Year and you can expect some sort of speculation. The thing with this is, Real are supposed to have spoken to us and (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, but it's nonsense. He has maybe said he wants to play in Spain one day, but does that include Real Madrid or Barcelona?"