MANCHESTER UNITED winger Cristiano Ronaldo was set to undergo ankle surgery in Amsterdam today.
The Portugal internationalist travelled to Holland last night for the procedure, which is expected to keep him out of action for six weeks. The operation was arranged after the view of a specialist backed up that of medical staff from both United an
d the Portuguese Football Association.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo looks increasingly likely to stay at United for at least one more season after Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon admitted there was no more that could be done to lure the winger to the Bernabeu.
Calderon will meet United chief executive David Gill today, where it is expected the Barclays Premier League side will issue an official "hands off" warning to Real.
If so, it could finally mark the end of the Spaniards' hunt for Ronaldo's signature.
"He must love Manchester," Calderon said. "Once Manchester decide they want to sell and they tell us this, then we will say that we're talking about a transfer.
"But today that's not happening and therefore this is a situation that may end up as it is now, as nothing, and Ronaldo will continue at Manchester next year. At the moment, that's the most likely scenario. They don't want to sell so we can't do anything."
Calderon admitted he held out some hope of United changing their minds before the August 31 transfer deadline. "Theoretically there's still time (for things to change]," he said.
The full article contains 249 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
