United Face Up to Queiroz Doing National Service

Sir Alex Ferguson's problematic build-up to the season has been exacerbated by the growing realization that his assistant, Carlos Queiroz, is giving strong consideration to becoming Portugal's new manager. Queiroz, it emerged last night, has indicated he is willing to leave in a move that will do little to change Cristiano Ronaldo's mind about severing his own ties with the European Cup winners.

While Ferguson had been hoping Queiroz could play a big role in persuading his compatriot against trying to force through his "dream" transfer to Real Madrid, he now faces the serious possibility of losing his most devastating player as well as a coach whose work has been crucial to United re-establishing themselves.

Queiroz spoke at length with Gilberto Madail, the president of the Portuguese football federation (FPF), on Tuesday and is now the only candidate to replace Luiz Felipe Scolari. It is believed that he will accept the job if he is given a four-year contract to take him through to the next European Championship, to be held in Poland and Ukraine in 2012, rather than the two-year deal that had originally been put before him. It remains to be seen whether the FPF will accept the demand, although Madail has already signaled his determination to recruit Queiroz by bumping up the initial £750,000-a-year offer to an annual salary of £1.1m.

There was no comment from Old Trafford yesterday but senior figures have accepted that Queiroz would not have gone so far with talks if he were not seriously tempted. Ferguson has said many times that his No2 could eventually replace him as manager, as has the chief executive David Gill, but Queiroz's thinking seems to be that if he does a reasonable job at the World Cup in 2010 he would still be a serious candidate when the opportunity arises, probably in the same summer.

One certainty is that his departure would represent a considerable setback for Ferguson. What should have been a summer of great celebration has instead been tempered by the Ronaldo transfer saga, the embarrassment of announcing Aaron Ramsey's £5m transfer from Cardiff and then seeing him join Arsenal, and now the potential loss of a man who has been described as a father figure to Ronaldo.

While Ferguson is very much in control on match days, Queiroz has a far more hands-on role than most in his position. He has been widely credited for the improvement in United's defending and his influence can be gaged from a passage in Ryan Giggs's autobiography, recalling Queiroz's arrival in 2002. "The gaffer immediately entrusted him with large amounts of responsibility," he wrote. "Some said he had too much influence, but I don't agree. He impressed me from the start."

There were reports in Portugal last night that Madail hopes to tie up the deal next week and will fly to Manchester to arrange a compensation package with Gill - in which case Queiroz might not even be around when Ronaldo returns to pre-season training on July 14.