Ronaldo no longer a Real target - Calderon

REAL MADRID president Ramon Calderon insisted yesterday his club's pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo is officially over.

REAL MADRID president Ramon Calderon insisted yesterday his club's pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo is officially over.

The 23-year-old was Real's top transfer target during the summer after his 42 goals helped fire United to the Premier League and Champions League double.

All the attention appeared to unsettle Ronaldo and it prompted United manager Alex Ferguson to claim Real "have no moral issues".

Ferguson eventually kept hold of his man and Calderon maintained Real will not come knocking again until United are prepared to sell.

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"It is forgotten, not only for January but forever," said Calderon. "We would only talk about it if Manchester decide they want to sell him. But the matter is over . . . The player decided to stay in Manchester and we accept it.

"Madrid is not doing anything to disturb a "friend club" like Manchester.

"We are two very big clubs. We want to be good friends forever. We are in the same market. I have a lot of respect for Manchester. I have a good relationship with David Gill and I want it to be like that for a long time."

Ronaldo now has his sights set on making history by helping United become the first team to successfully defend the Champions League.

"The summer has passed and what I had to say I said it," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I am at Manchester and I want to win again with Manchester.

"It was a fantastic season but what is more important is the trophies I won with Manchester United - the Premier League and the Champions League.

"Manchester have the potential, players, motivation to win the Champions League twice in a row. The team is more mature, has more experience and (Dimitar) Berbatov has arrived.

"We have to believe in ourselves. I hope to soon find the form that I had last season in order to do better than in the 2007-08 campaign."

Ronaldo believes he deserves to be crowned European as well as World Player of the Year and is one of the favourites to scoop the awards.

He finished runner-up to Kaka for the 2007 Ballon D'Or, and was third in the running for the Fifa World Player of the Year award, behind Kaka and Lionel Messi.

He faces stiff competition from the likes of Barcelona playmaker Messi and Liverpool forward Fernando Torres, who also impressed in the Premier League and in Europe.

"There cannot be just one candidate," Ronaldo told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "There are two or three that deserve it.

"But if you look at what each of them has done throughout the season, I believe I have done more than the rest. What else could I have won for the Golden Ball and the Fifa award?"