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Ronaldo tug of war will show who holds power

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Sir Alex says the Glazier's have balls but the real battle may be more between Manchester and Miami than Madrid. Frank Gregan shakes up the Ronnie gossip, offering a fascinating insight into the realities of transfers, right down to the blue forms.

It is difficult to comprehend how Cristiano Ronaldo could believe that the grass will be greener elsewhere. He is the fantastically well-paid talisman of a side that has just won arguably the best league in the world and are champions of Europe. He plies his trade in one of the best stadiums ever built in front of over seventy thousand adoring fans and yet it appears that he still wishes to try his luck in Madrid. Football people everywhere are scratching their heads in disbelief but it just goes to prove there is "nowt as queer as folk."

He is of course contracted to Manchester United and the procedure to be followed in order to secure his services is straight forward. Prospective buyers are not allowed any contact with the player or any of his representatives until a transfer fee has been agreed with his parent club. Everyone is said to have a price but Sir Alex is adamant that his star is not for sale no matter how much cash is brought to the table. That should be the end of the matter but life doesn't work like that. It looks as if Ronaldo may want out and a right royal battle for his services looks set to take place after the Euros.

A much bigger problem is set to come to a head if, as has been suggested, the owners overrule Sir Alex and use the huge transfer fee to offset against their debt. A manager being taken out of the equation during a transfer negotiation is much more common than you would imagine. Every footballer signs a standard blue Football Association contract, the irony is that a manager is not authorised to be the club signatory on the form. It has to be signed by the Chairman or the Secretary. This ensures that the manager does not commit the club to something that has not been agreed by the officers of the company. The owner of the club will always have the final say. We are about to find out who really holds the power at Old Trafford.

The truth of the matter is that if Betfair's markets are indeed the best indication of what is likely to happen, then the number seven shirt at Old Trafford will still be worn by last year's Premiership Player of The Year on the opening day of the season, but the odds are tight. On Betfair's "Ronaldo to stay" market under football/specials, it's currently [1.7] he stays and around [2.1] that the fleed-footed winger will be terrorising defences at somewhere other than Old Trafford next season. But these things change rapidly and one little comment from Ronaldo himself, his agent, Ferguson or someone else at Old Trafford could see the prices flip-flop.

It has been reported that Sir Alex will quit if Ronaldo is sold against his wishes. I have no idea who Sir Alex takes counsel from on these matters but I hope for the sake of Manchester United fans that it is not Sir Bobby Charlton. Sir Bobby quit his post as manager of Preston many moons ago because the board sold a player (John Bird) to Newcastle without his consent.

If, and of course it is a huge if, Sir Alex does go the Next Manchester United Manager market will go ballistic. This market has been open for a long time and to date has over a £100000 matched in it. A large proportion of that money was invested in Martin O'Neil prior to the Glazier takeover when it was thought that the new owners were likely to be an Irish consortium. O'Neil had been backed as short as [2.0] but is now a drifting [10.0]. It will be quite easy to get one's fingers burnt in this market because the fundamental question is will the new incumbent be home grown or foreign? If you are confident you know the answer to that then it becomes quite easy to draw up a shortlist.

I think they will go with an old boy, someone that has been a part of the Ferguson regime and can continue in the same vein whilst incorporating their own ideas. There are a lot of them about, Bruce, Hughes and Keane being the obvious choices. I'll be opting for Roy Keane and trying to get a match now at [10.0] because that price can only get shorter when Sir Alex eventually steps down.

I spend about three months of the year in Spain ranging from periods of three days to three weeks at a time. I go to a lot of Spanish matches at all levels including La Liga. The atmosphere is brilliant, the Spanish are so passionate about their football. But the pitches look the same to me in Spain as they do in England. The grass is certainly not greener.