Fifa president Sepp Blatter believes Cristiano Ronaldo should be allowed to join Real Madrid – if the Manchester United player wants to leave.
The Spanish champions are yet to make a formal bid but Ronaldo, 23, has already revealed that it would be a “dream” to play for Real.
“I’m always in favour of protecting the player and if the player wants to leave let him leave,” he told Sky News.
“If the player wants to play somewhere else, then a solution should be found because if he stays in a club where he does not feel comfortable to play then it’s not good for the player and for the club.
“I think in football there’s too much modern slavery in transferring players or buying players here and there, and putting them somewhere.
“We are trying now to intervene in such cases. The reaction to the Bosman law is to make long-lasting contracts in order to keep the players and then if he wants to leave, then there is only one solution, he has to pay his contract.”
Blatter’s intervention will have been greeted with dismay by United. Ronaldo, who scored 42 goals as United won the Premier League title and Champions League last season, has a deal until 2012 and the club have insisted he is not for sale.
However, Real president Ramon Calderon has continued to court the player, and remains confident that Ronaldo will become a Madrid player before the transfer window closes at the end of August.
Meanwhile, Blatter has again voiced his opposition to the Premier League’s proposal to play a ’39th game’ overseas.
He said: “The 39th game as presented will never happen. To my knowledge what they (the Premier League) want to do is perhaps to play some of the League Cup matches somewhere outside of England. That’s the last information I got.
“They should just forget about that.”
