United's Ronaldo bid backed up by new reports from Spain

Spanish sports news outlet AS have run a new report on their English site backing up recent suggestions concerning Manchester United's move for Cristiano Ronaldo.

75 million Euros is the fee mentioned, although the paper also states "the answer would be bound to be no, given that Real Madrid are only considering one option: a contract renewal for the player."

So, why report it? Well, I think anybody suggesting this is idle gossip can firmly be dismissed by this point - we know United are serious and believe there's a chance of this coming off. What's also becoming increasingly clear however, is that this will be a long game, where United will have to wait for Ronaldo to do something more drastic - make it clear he will not sign a contract, hand in a transfer request, reject an offer from Madrid - in order to give the transfer a chance of happening.

The article ends citing Ronaldo's frustration at Madrid pursuing other targets aggressively, including Gareth Bale, who has been touted as a potential replacement for the Portuguese winger should he leave. This one is going to drag on, but the information we have appears to be agreed on by a wide variety of sources now.