MANCHESTER United have accepted a world record $162 million bid for Christiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.
The United website this evening confirmed it had agreed to the offer. Real now has to come to terms with Ronaldo. United expects the deal to be concluded by June 30.
This move comes just days after Real signed Brazilian star Kaka from AC Milan for $114 million.
Reports in the Spanish press earlier today said Real president Florentino Perez, who has made no secret of his desire to get Ronaldo, has sanctioned a deal that will dwarf the $114 million paid to AC Milan for Kaka this week.
The Sun said United manager Alex Ferguson had decided the time had come for Ronaldo to give in to Real's advances, and did not attempt to persuade him to remain - as he did last year.
The Times said the deal does not necessarily boost the Premiership champion's transfer budget this season, as the record fee may be paid in installments over a period of three, four or even five years.
The newspaper's website added that the deal was probably a sensible one for United, assuming Ronaldo's heart was no longer set on playing for the Red Devils.
It has long been thought in England and Spain that there is a pre-contract agreement for Real to sign the Manchester United star, even though United have continually denied it.
The contract would have to be executed before June 30, with Madrid paying a $52 million penalty if they break the terms.
Perez's predecessor, Ramon Calderon, has persistently hinted that Ronaldo will arrive at the Bernabeu because of work he had already done on the deal last year.
Perez is understood to be unhappy at such a high fee and has reportedly been in talks with United chief executive David Gill over the last few days in an attempt to renegotiate the deal.
But the Premier League champions have refused to budge other than agreeing to take the payments spread over five years, leaving Perez to reluctantly sanction the transfer rather pay the $52 million penalty and have no player.
Real Madrid general director Jorge Valdano claimed today the club are already in negotiations with United over Ronaldo.
"I can't answer any questions about him," he told Spanish television station TVE.
"'I can only talk about players who are on their way here, not about those we are in negotiations over.
"He is a great professional, he dedicates a very great deal of time to his work. He is a great footballer and a very good professional.
"According to the information we have managed to obtain, he is an excellent professional. You don't get the player's body he has, which is a footballing advertisement, without working a great deal.
"Another thing is that his reputation as an officially good-looking guy, and a social or advertising model, blurs his image a bit. He is a great footballer."
The Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo says that Real Madrid representative and a doctor have been sent to meet Ronaldo, 24, in Los Angeles, where he is recuperating after the hernia injury forced him out of the Portugal squad.
The report says Real will move quickly to sign up Ronaldo on $400,000 a week - the same as Kaka -if they are satisfied with his condition.
While Calderon angered United boss Sir Alex Ferguson by courting Ronaldo in public, Perez has not met the same resistance, despite constantly stating in interviews in recent days that he was determined to sign the Portugal international.
Perez, 62, is said to have a much better relationship with the Old Trafford hierarchy, dating back to a time when he chaired the now disbanded G-14 collection of Europe's elite football clubs.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25619354-11088,00.html
