Manchester United Gets Cristiano Ronaldo For One More Year

Manchester United fans can look forward to watching Cristiano Ronaldo for at least another year. Sir Alex Ferguson welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo back to Manchester United yesterday and then raised the possibility of the Portugal forward agreeing a new contract at Old Trafford before the season begins next weekend.

After declaring in an interview this week that he would be staying at United for at least another season, Ronaldo made a point of reiterating his wish “one day” to play for Real and be closer to his family in Portugal. Ferguson dismissed suggestions that Ronaldo's motivation may be adversely affected by being denied his dream move and claimed that, with time, the Portuguese will increasingly value his career at Old Trafford.

But while the Spanish champions are unlikely to concede defeat in their efforts to sign Ronaldo — many believe a transfer has simply been delayed by 12 months in the wake of Ferguson’s refusal to sell — the United manager feels that the longer the 23-year-old stays at the club, the more he will realise that the grass is not greener elsewhere and that there is no better place to play his football.

United have kept to their promise not to improve the five-year, £120,000-a-week contract that Ronaldo signed in April 2007, but it will be in their interest to have secured the prized asset on a new deal before the start of the 2009-10 campaign.