Spanish sports daily Marca, citing 'authorised club sources', reported that the Portuguese winger's agent, Jorge Mendes, had spoken to Madrid's sports director Predrag Mijatovic in Moscow ahead of last night's Champions League final.

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 their 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 that he could leave Old Trafford 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,' he said.

While Ronaldo is under contract until 2012, Madrid president Ramon Calderon has repeatedly stated his interest in signing the 23-year-old player over recent months.

The Spanish champions would almost certainly need to break the world's transfer record to sign Ronaldo. The current record was set in 2001, when Madrid signed Zinedine Zidane from Juventus for £39 million (S$104.44 million).

Rumours are that Real are prepared to test United's resolve with a £100 million fee.

But United chief executive David Gill insisted: 'Cristiano will be with us next season. He has got a long-term contract.

'Why would he leave one of the best clubs in Europe? We see no reason for him to leave and I'm sure he doesn't as well.'

ASSOCIATED PRESS