Schuster Believes Ronaldo Will Stay at Old Trafford

Real Madrid might continue to dream of signing Cristiano Ronaldo, but their manager Bernd Schuster seems to have accepted that it is unlikely to happen this summer.

"I would like to have a lot of players. But I don't think it is possible that Cristiano Ronaldo will be with us," Schuster told reporters after his side's 5-2 thrashing of Levante yesterday.

Ronaldo, who has scored 41 goals this season, had set tabloid tongues wagging by coyly telling Spanish TV last week that "I'm very happy [at Old Trafford] but let's see after the Champions League final what happens."

At the time, most informed commentators in Spain suggested that Ronaldo's comments were probably a play to get more money out of United, with whom he has a contract worth £120,000-a-week that runs to 2012, and that he had no intention of moving to Madrid this summer.

And when questioned over Ronaldo's future Schuster seemed to agree. "I don't waste time on these things," he said. "I think about who could come and not on speculation."