Source: Daily_Mail
EXCLUSIVE: Fergie - Ronaldo was always going to quit... and I'm losing Tevez to City
Sir Alex Ferguson has broken his silence on the ?80million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, revealing that he was resigned to losing him and had been fighting a losing battle to keep the Portuguese player at the club for the past two seasons.
It was Ferguson who ultimately authorised the world record transfer last Monday after concluding that it was futile to attempt to persuade Ronaldo to stay, despite his successes in doing so in the summers of 2007 and 2008.
Ferguson, speaking to The Mail on Sunday while on holiday in the south of France, said: 'He wanted to leave, it's as simple as that. He was going to go some time. We've done well to keep him for so long.'
But United fans, still reeling from the departure of the World Player of the Year, will now also have to contemplate the reality of losing crowd favourite Carlos Tevez to rivals Manchester City.
Though United are making desperate efforts to replace Ronaldo and reinvigorate their forward line, it is understood that Tevez has accepted a massive ?160,000-a-week deal to move to Eastlands.
City officials, worried that Tevez may yet be persuaded to stay at Old Trafford, are anxious to close the deal, especially since United are unlikely to match a financial package which almost puts the player on a level with record-signing Robinho.
'City feel that United may have dragged their feet a bit over Tevez, but they know it won't be over until he has signed on the dotted line,' said a source close to City.
'Ronaldo's departure has moved the goalposts. United fans have been resigned to him going to Madrid for a long time but they don't want Tevez to follow him out of the door.'
Ronaldo, who will earn around ?200,000 a week at Real, is set to sign a record football sponsorship deal with Nike. The company are delighted to have one of their top clients infiltrating the camp of rivals adidas, and are negotiating a ?4m-a-year contract.
'Ronaldo will wear Nike boots and that's something adidas cannot be happy about,' said a source close to Real, who wear adidas kit.
