Gill stands firm on Ronaldo

United will not offer winger a pay rise

By Lewis Rutledge   Last updated: 20th July 2008

Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United

Ronaldo: Will not be offered new deal

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Manchester United chief executive David Gill has insisted that Cristiano Ronaldo will not be offered a pay rise.

The Portuguese winger has been targeted by Real Madrid this summer, but United are adamant that he will be staying at Old Trafford.

Ronaldo has yet to publicly commit his future to United but Gill is not sure whether he is looking for a lucrative new contract and maintains that the 23-year-old is already on a long-term deal.

Asked if Ronaldo would be offered a new contract, Gill said: "No. He only entered into the previous contract 18 months before and in terms of where he's at in our wage hierarchy he's doing pretty well."

When questioned if Ronaldo's behaviour was partly to get a higher salary from United, Gill replied: "Possibly, but not necessarily, and if the figures bandied around that Real Madrid are talking about are true, we wouldn't go anywhere near that. That would be lunacy."

Valuable

Sir Alex Ferguson held talks with Ronaldo earlier in the week and Gill is confident the player will see out his contract.

"He is under contract so the strength and the rights are with Manchester United," added Gill.

"I think we've been pretty clear all along that Ronaldo has got a contract until 2012, he's a valuable member of the team and that's the situation.

"Obviously there's some issues there, but that's for Alex and is why Alex had the meeting, to discuss things and put our point of view.

"I'm sure Cristiano put his point of view and hopefully we can move forward.

Responsibilities

"All we were doing, effectively, is saying we clearly have a player who is one of the best in the world.

"He entered into a new contract, his third with us, only 18 months after his previous one.

"With that, we believe, go some responsibilities and obligations.

"There was an increased salary and we clearly feel there has to be some commitment and loyalty and he can't just say, 'I've entered into it, but I'll leave a year down the line', especially after the season we've just had.

"It's a two-way street and contracts are entered into with a view to getting that kind of commitment."