Manchester United have confirmed that they have turned down an offer from Real Madrid for Ruud van Nistelrooy.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed the Spanish club have yet to meet their valuation for the Dutch striker.
“There is no agreement with Real Madrid and Manchester United over Ruud,” said Ferguson.
“We have refused their offer. He remains a Manchester United player.”
Real are understood to have offered £9m for van Nistelrooy, while United are looking for a figure closer to £15m
Van Nistelrooy’s agent Rodger Linse, meanwhile, has been in Madrid to finalise personal terms as the clubs thrash out a deal.
Linse said last night that a deal is “very close to being done” and, if everything goes according to plan, Van Nistelrooy, 30, hopes to take his medical before the end of the week and sign a three-year contract worth around £4m a year.
Ferguson believes that even without Van Nistelrooy, he has plenty of options up front.
“We have options among our forwards. Alan Smith should be back by the end of August,” said the United boss. “He is a player we intend to convert back to centre-forward after a spell in the midfield last season. We have Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney and there is the possibility we may keep Giuseppe Rossi if Van Nistelrooy does leave.
“It would be a consideration to keep Rossi at Old Trafford. I would prefer that he went on loan for six months anyway, so I have some good options.”
Ferguson also confirmed that he is interested in signing Tottenham midfielder Michael Carrick.
“We are trying to sign another central midfielder,” he said. “We have made a bid for Michael Carrick but they [Spurs] turned it down.”
