SOCCER/ Manchester Utd v Chelsea: Real Madrid have turned up the pressure as they test Manchester United's resolve to keep hold of Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The Dutch striker is fit to return to the United team for today's crucial meeting with Chelsea at Old Trafford with automatic entry into next season's Champions League at stake.
According to the Spanish sports daily Marca, which frequently profits from leaks from the Madrid side, representatives from both clubs met on Wednesday in order to, as they put it, "establish the basis of a deal". That deal, said Marca, could be done by the end of the Spanish football season on May 23rd and would fund a United bid for Liverpool's Steven Gerrard.
David Gill, United's chief executive, described the Marca report as "nonsense" and Gerard Houllier, Gerrard's manager at Liverpool, just laughed when the report was put to him. But with Madrid's first choice Thierry Henry refusing to countenance a move, sources at Real have confirmed they are interested in Van Nistelrooy, while leaks from his circle suggest he would be more than tempted.
Last week United had taken the unusual step of holding a Friday afternoon press conference, attended by Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane and Van Nistelrooy, in which the Dutch striker and his manager rubbished his chances of moving to Spain.
Yesterday Ferguson responded with a mixture of exasperation and frustration.
"It depends on what you want to believe," he said. "If you believe me then fine, if you don't then there's nothing I can do about it. We know which newspapers Madrid brief, why they do it and the ways in which they operate. But there's nothing we can do about it."
The United manager suspects the Real president Florentino Perez is using Van Nistelrooy's name to help him retain his post in the club's elections on June 11th, but he is also aware that a bid for the player looks increasingly likely.
Ferguson believes Perez deliberately planted the story in Marca to unsettle Van Nistelrooy, it being the same newspaper Real used to reveal in off-the-record briefings a year ago that they wanted to sign David Beckham.
"It's all part of their elections and it's nothing even to do with Carlos Queiroz (the Real coach and Ferguson's former assistant). It's never the manager at that club."
Knocked out of Europe and defeated in the Spanish Copa del Rey final, Real will finish the season empty-handed if they fail to beat Mallorca tonight and Valencia win at Sevilla tomorrow. Even if they do hang on, Valencia have two more matches and a four-point cushion with which to claim the title. With a relatively small squad, major rebuilding is due before next season at Real and Van Nistelrooy could find himself playing in front of Francesco Totti of Roma.
Meanwhile, Claudio Ranieri believes he has done a good job at Chelsea and should be allowed to finish it but expects to be replaced at the end of the season.
"I think I've done a very good job here. The plan is good," a weary looking Ranieri said before training for the visit to Manchester. "The foundation is good. The spirit of the group is strong. I would like to finish my job," he added.
