Cristiano Ronaldo 'agrees in principle' to join Madrid

BEIJING, May 22 -- Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo would reportedly welcome a transfer to Real Madrid.

Spanish sports daily Marca said yesterday that Ronaldo had "very recently" communicated his desire to join the club, obliging United to hold transfer negotiations with Madrid.

The paper cited "authorized club sources." It added that Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, has held talks with Madrid's sports director Predrag Mijatovic in Moscow ahead of United's Champions League final with Chelsea.

Showing a photo of the smiling player, the paper carried the front-page headline: "Cristiano says "Yes, I do." In a reference to United's desire to keep its star player, it added: "But Manchester replies: No, I don't."

Speculation about Ronaldo's future was heightened last week when he appeared to suggest to a Spanish TV channel last week he could depart United once the season is over.

However, United manager Alex Ferguson, asked in Moscow on Tuesday about the chance of Ronaldo leaving, sounded confident about keeping the Portugal captain. "If you want to have a bet on it, I'll put a big bet on with you," Ferguson said.

Meanwhile, French midfielder Mathieu Flamini has said it was sporting reasons, not financial, for his end-of-season move from Arsenal to AC Milan.

"I always said Milan would have been my first choice if I left Arsenal and I didn't do it for money," Flamini told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I don't say it to boast, but I had lots of offers and I chose Milan because it's every player's dream. It wasn't easy to decide to leave London but I knew what I wanted."

The 24-year-old said he was not concerned Milan will miss the Champions League next season after finishing fifth in Serie A.

"I don't mind at all," he said. "Those who play in the UEFA Cup with Milan know that it's the exception of one season. Milan are the team with most (international) titles in the world."

The Frenchman also said he was glad to have the British tabloids off his back.

"If you say that in Italy the newspapers are not so interested in player's private lives you take a weight off my heart," he said.

"In England, where otherwise I'm fine, paparazzi chasing players with new girls are a nightmare." (Shanghai Daily)