Ronaldo to make Man Utd transfer demand

Cristiano Ronaldo is ready to demand a transfer from Manchester United, it has been revealed.

The Times says Ronaldo has confided to friends that he is prepared to do "whatever it takes" to engineer a transfer to Real Madrid this summer. Manchester United maintain that they will not sell their most prized asset under any circumstances, but Ronaldo is dismissive of his club's views and regards his planned world-record transfer to Real as an inevitability.

A source close to the player said last night that he had made clear he would do everything in his power to persuade United to sell. That could mean anything from submitting a formal transfer request to refusing to report for pre-season training, but his next step will be to issue a further statement, outlining his intentions, as soon as Portugal's participation in the European Championship finals is over.

The end of the tournament a week on Sunday - or Portugal's elimination, if that happens first - will trigger an escalation in the battle for Ronaldo, with Real planning to make a formal offer of about £60million.