Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted that winger Cristiano Ronaldo will stay at Manchester United next season.
Ferguson confirmed he met Ronaldo, 23, in Lisbon on Monday amid mounting speculation about the player’s future.
“The meeting went well – I think we both put across our points of view – where we stand and where the player stands,” said the United boss.
“I can say he’ll be a Manchester United player next season. That’s our stance – he won’t be sold.
Asked why he had not commented on the matter until now, Ferguson replied: “It’s not a difficult position. I was on my holiday and I was not going to interrupt my holiday, believe me.
“I wasn’t panicked because the player is under contract so the strength and the rights are with Manchester United.
“What we have done well is to say nothing. We’ve kept quiet on this matter and kept it private and what I said to Cristiano remains private.
Ferguson confirmed Ronaldo will be out of action for three months following ankle surgery.
“I did go and see him last week in Portugal and it was very amicable, there were no problems. That’s where we are and we carry on.
“He’s on crutches for the first four weeks, he’ll be in rehabilitation for the next four and then the following four he’ll be back into football training.
“The time mapped out is three months and we won’t bring him back a day earlier than that.
“I think when players have operations we have a responsibility that the player comes back 100 per cent and we’ll carry that out as we normally do.
“There’ll be no risk-taking, we never take risks. Our goal is to always make sure that the player gets back 100% and that will be the same in the case of Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Ronaldo had announced earlier in the summer that he wanted to move to Real Madrid, although United have insisted that he was not for sale at any price. The club will now hope that Ferguson’s latest comments will convince Madrid to end their pursuit of the winger.
