Meanwhile, the return of Florentino Perez as Madrid's president has brought sweeping changes. The billionaire pledged to return the Spanish side to the glorious "galactico era", and revived his policy of signing world stars.

After Madrid signed Kaka from AC Milan earlier this week for a reported fee of around 65 million pounds, the president then targeted the Portuguese international.

Florentino Perez, Real Madrid President, said, "All I can say is: we will do everything we can to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. Yes we will."

In the end, Madrid's generosity proved too hard for United to resist. Whether it turns out to be a good investment or not, football fans will just have to wait for next season to roll around.