Porto chairman Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa says his club will continue to resist attempts by Real Madrid to sign Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho.

“Ricardo Carvalho is going nowhere,” the Porto chairman was quoted as saying in the Spanish press on Monday.

“Porto isn’t having a sale and at the moment moving to Real Madrid would be a step down (for Carvalho).

“They can’t force us to sell a player if we don’t want to.”

Porto have already been hit by the departures of defender Paulo Ferreira to Chelsea and playmaker Deco to Barcelona. They have also lost coach Jose Mourinho to the London club.

Carvalho has been targeted by Real to strengthen their defence, but the Spaniards are reluctant to stump up the 30-million-euro price tag.