Cristiano Ronaldo will pick up a staggering £26m if Real Madrid do not sign him by the end of the month, it was claimed last night.

Former Madrid president Ramon Calderon reportedly promised the Ronaldo camp last summer he would do whatever it took to sign the Manchester United winger.

And that means Madrid could have to pay £80m to trigger an alleged buy-out clause in his contract.

Calderon was so confident of landing the 24-year-old, he agreed to pay him 30m Euros (£26m) if a deal was not clinched by the end of June. Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, it is claimed in several Spanish newspapers, is said to have agreed to pay the same amount to Real if his client backed out of the move.

United have always denied a deal is already in place to sell the World Player of the Year, while Ronaldo would be unable to negotiate with another club without the permission of his Old Trafford paymasters.

Controversial Calderon resigned as Real president in January and was replaced by Vicente Balouda following allegations of vote-rigging for the confirmation of the budget.

On Monday, Florentino Perez returned to run the club and it is understood he has instructed lawyers to challenge the legality of the pre-contract agreement with Ronaldo’s advisers.

Perez’s plan is to embark on drawn-out negotiations with United, hoping the Premier League champions might be forced to accept £60m to £70m as the transfer window draws to a close.

When asked about the secret agreement, Perez said: ‘I’ve been here for two days and no-one has told me about this.”

His vice-president Fernando Tapias refused to deny the outlandish claim on Spanish radio station Cadena Copè.

It was put to him: “I don’t know what is worse – if the club buys him he will cost 90m euros and if they don’t then it’s 30m.

He replied: “Yes but that is not our fault. He is a great player.

“That the price is exorbitant is also true. Maybe it is down to FIFA to put a 50m Euros cap on transfer fees. ”

Any fans of bb here??? Who do you think will win? I'm hoping for sophie to go the whole way she's fit as fuk

We should have more active users on the forum there's not enough people on Espesilly now that it's summer

CARLOS TEVEZ will be the next to join Manchester City - unless neighbours United salvage a deal today.

The Argentine striker's advisor Kia Joorabchian is due to meet with Old Trafford chief executive David Gill.

The pair will discuss the possibility of United paying a further £25.5million to turn Tevez's two-year loan into a permanent move.

However, Joorabchian has already thrashed out a possible £32m transfer to Eastlands, just as SunSport told you first on May 23.

Tevez would team up with England midfielder Gareth Barry, who sealed his £12m switch to City from Aston Villa last night.

City boss Mark Hughes' stunning statement of intent is likely to leave his old United mentor Alex Ferguson fuming.

Tevez, 25, has had his head turned by the offer of a staggering £140,000- a-week wages from City.

Money is no object, with City's Arab owner Sheikh Mansour banking another £1.5bn by selling some Barclays shares last night.

Owen Hargreaves may be forced to quit top-level football in the next two years if his chronic knee problem persists, ManUtdPeople understands.

The Manchester United and England midfielder has had two operations to cure a tendinitis problem in both knees but the pain has yet to subside.

It is believed the 28-year-old has not yet planned a return date but is still confident of making a full recovery.

He has had only 25 starts since a £17m move from Bayern Munich in July 2007.

Hargreaves, who was seen demonstrating his ball skills during United's warm-up for the Champions League final in Rome on 27 May, has not featured for Sir Alex Ferguson's side since their 1-1 draw with Chelsea on 21 September 2008.

He underwent surgery on his right knee last November and then on his left knee in January.

The procedures were carried out under the guidance of leading American knee surgeon Richard Steadman, who has previously operated on former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer, current Magpies forward Michael Owen and ex-Red Devils striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who is now at Real Madrid.

Ferguson has previously said that he was "certain" Hargreaves would be fit for the beginning of the 2009-2010 campaign but it is now believed there is little chance of that happening.

Manchester United have declined to comment on Hargreaves' current level of fitness, but it is believed that his injury is so delicate it can only be monitored on a day-to-day basis and stepping up the intensity of his rehabilitation programme could have potentially disastrous ramifications.

If the England international suffers a recurrence of the original problem he would face another lengthy absence.

Hargreaves aims to manage the injury as slowly as necessary before making a return when he is pain free but he will not return if he is feeling any level of discomfort.

If Hargreaves is pain free he is likely to be able to play at the top level for at least four or five more years but, if not, a premature end is likely.

His condition, patellar tendinitis, can be described as inflammation of the tendon that attaches the quadriceps (thigh muscle) to the tibia (shin bone).

It can be caused by a number of factors, including a rapid increase in the frequency of training, sudden increase in the intensity of training, transition from one training method to another, genetic abnormalities of the knee joint and poor base strength of the quadriceps.