MANCHESTER United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that the transfer saga involving Cristiano Ronaldo is "closed" and the winger will remain at the club.
The Portugal international is under contract at Old Trafford until 2012 but has been publicly courted by Spanish giants Real Madrid and the player appeared to be keen on a move.
Ferguson, though, insists that Ronaldo, who had ankle surgery earlier
this summer and is not expected to return to action until October, will stay at Old Trafford.
"The matter is closed now," said Ferguson. "He (Ronaldo] is a Manchester United player – it's finished. He'll be playing here next season believe me. It's finished."
Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has also hinted their pursuit of Ronaldo may now be brought to an end after he revealed new arrival Rafael van der Vaart is their only likely purchase this summer.
"Rafael van der Vaart is the first and possibly the only signing of the summer for Real Madrid," Calderon said. "We believe that this squad is full of quality, of plenty of talent. It's a team which is a great family, very close.
"We said that the new arrivals would be few but of great quality. That seemed logical after two successful seasons in which we've brought in 19 young, promising players. This (the low number of signings] was a request of the board of directors."
Van der Vaart himself was asked to comment on the possible arrival of Ronaldo, but was reluctant to respond.
"Ronaldo is a fantastic player, one of the best in the world," he said. "If he came it would be great, of course. But out of respect I can't say anything more about this matter."
As well as having to do without Ronaldo for the beginning of the campaign, Ferguson revealed yesterday that Wayne Rooney is also unlikely to be fit for the start of the season after contracting a virus on the club's pre-season trip to Nigeria.
United played four friendlies, including one against Community Shield opponents Portsmouth, on the tour but it now looks to have cost them the services of their leading striker. Speaking to Sky Sports, Ferguson added: "I doubt we'll get Rooney fit for the start of the season with the virus he's had.
"It's a virus he picked up in Nigeria and it's not a nice one, but quite a few have had it. It's such a bad virus and he's got to be training to be fit."
Ferguson confirmed that Rooney was not suffering from malaria, against which the entire squad had been treated before the trip.
The news could bring a renewed move for Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov as Ferguson has only Carlos Tevez, untested youngster Fraizer Campbell and Louis Saha to choose from up front.
In addition to the seasonal curtain-raiser against Pompey on Sunday, Rooney is also likely to miss United's Barclays Premier League opener against Newcastle the following week.
It is frustrating for the 22-year-old England striker, who also saw the start to last season disrupted by injury when he suffered a broken metatarsal against Reading on the opening day of the 2007/08 campaign.
Ferguson admitted his preparations for the new season have been badly hit. "I don't know whether we will have a team ready," he said. "Nani is suspended, Anderson is in the Olympic Games. (Michael] Carrick's come in this morning and he may play a part of the game on Sunday. They've said it's a bad virus and Wayne's not back in yet, he's not been training. It's been a long time."
