Cristiano Ronaldo's hopes of joining Real Madrid look to be fading after Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon admitted today that Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart will "probably" be their only signing of the summer and Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson insisted the "matter is closed".
The Portuguese winger was reported to be meeting Ferguson today for the first time since his ankle operation following the European Championships. However, that speculation has been denied by United and the 23-year-old is in fact due back in Amsterdam later this week to see whether his surgery was a success.
Given the United boss is under the impression both men discussed what they had to during a meeting following Portugal's exit from Euro 2008, he is not expecting any further dialogue about Ronaldo's future and reiterated that point today.
"The matter is closed now. He (Ronaldo) is a Manchester United player - it's finished. He'll be playing here next season believe me. It's finished," he said on Sky Sports News.
Calderon, meanwhile, has admitted he feels the same, describing van der Vaart today as "the first signing and probably the only one" of the summer.
"We believe that this squad is full of quality, of plenty of talent. It's a team which is a great family, very close," he added. "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."
Earlier in the summer Ronaldo described the opportunity to move to Madrid as a "dream" but after four months of constant speculation United remain staunchly opposed to his transfer. Their refusal to be bullied and the player's reluctance to hand in a transfer request, mean the Spaniards look to have lost the battle for this season at least.
However, further apathy from the winger, or indeed a transfer request, may force Ferguson to back down and invite a mammoth offer from Real, which, despite today's comments from the Spanish capital, would surely prompt an approach.
Ronaldo, who signed a five-year contract worth €39 million in April, has so far made no conciliatory moves toward his club or manager and even if the news is positive in Amsterdam he is not expected to return to action until the second half of September.
Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney is also set to miss the start of the season because of a virus he picked up during his club's trip to Nigeria.
In addition to the seasonal curtain-raiser against Pompey on August 10th, the 22-year-old England international is also likely to miss United's Barclays Premier League opener against Newcastle the following week.
Rooney 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.
A frustrated Ferguson today claimed that he will be struggling to field a team on Sunday.
"I don't know whether we will have a team ready. Nani is suspended, Anderson is in the Olympic Games," said the Scot. "(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."
