Real's Familiar Path Leads Towards Van Nistelrooy

Real Madrid have turned up the pressure as they test Manchester United's resolve to keep hold of Ruud van Nistelrooy.

According to the Spanish sports daily Marca, which frequently profits from leaks from the Madrid side, representatives from both clubs met on Wednesday in order to, as they put it, "establish the basis of a deal". That deal, said Marca, could be done by the end of the Spanish football season on May 23 and would fund a United bid for Liverpool's Steven Gerrard.

David Gill, United's chief executive, described the Marca report as "nonsense" and Gérard Houllier, Gerrard's manager at Liverpool, just laughed when the report was put to him. But with Madrid's first choice Thierry Henry refusing to countenance a move, sources at Real have confirmed that they are interested in Van Nistelrooy, while leaks from his circle suggest that he would be more than tempted.

Last week United had taken the unusual step of holding a Friday afternoon press conference, attended by Sir Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane and Van Nistelrooy, in which the Dutch striker and his manager rubbished speculation about him moving to Spain.

Yesterday Ferguson responded with a mixture of exasperation and frustration. "It depends on what you want to believe," he said. "If you believe me then fine, if you don't then there's nothing I can do about it. We know which newspapers Madrid brief, why they do it and the ways in which they operate. But there's nothing we can do about it."

The United manager suspects the Real president Florentino Pérez is using Van Nistelrooy's name to help him retain his post in the club's elections on June 11, but he is also aware that a bid for the player looks increasingly likely.

Ferguson believes Pérez deliberately planted the story in Marca to unsettle Van Nistelrooy, it being the same newspaper that Real used to reveal in off-the-record briefings a year ago that they wanted to sign David Beckham.

"It's all part of their elections and it's nothing even to do with Carlos Queiroz [the Real coach and Ferguson's former assistant]. It's never the manager at that club."

Real will have quite a battle on their hands to prise away the Dutch striker, far more so than last summer when United were keen to sell Beckham.

Pérez, however, appears to be treading a well-worn path as he seeks to justify his promise to sign a galáctico for every new season. Real's usual first step is to sound out potential targets through the press. Next, the "flattered" player denies the rumours. Then, Real approach him directly (while denying it). Then, Real present the player's club with a virtual fait accompli, forcing them to negotiate. As Pérez has said: "The player himself is always the key - Ronaldo, Zidane, Beckham." Van Nistelrooy, for his part, has denied that he has a release clause in his contract allowing him to join another club for £28m.

Knocked out of Europe and defeated in the Spanish Copa del Rey final, Real will finish the season empty-handed if they fail to beat Mallorca tonight and Valencia win at Sevilla on Sunday. Even if they do hang on, Valencia have two more matches and a four-point cushion with which to claim the title. With a relatively small squad, major rebuilding is due before next season at Real and Van Nistelrooy could find himself playing in front of Francesco Totti of Roma.

Real's economic health is not as robust as it is painted, but those deals would be funded by the possible departure of any two from David Beckham, Ronaldo, Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos, plus any money made on Fernando Morientes.

That income is doubly important, for at long last Pérez will buy some footballers his team actually needs. Real Sociedad's defensive midfielder Xabi Alonso is almost certain to join for about £15m and Madrid are also on the look-out for a centre-back, with Walter Samuel, the subject of an approach from Chelsea, heading their list.

Ferguson, in reference to the press conference with Van Nistelrooy and Keane, said: "I can't do any more than I did last week. I've done my best to put it to bed by bringing in the players so they could tell everyone."

In his programme notes for today's match against Chelsea, Ferguson refers again to Van Nistelrooy's own statements and says he organised the press conference so the fans "could hear first-hand that there is no dissension behind the scenes". There may not be dissension but there may soon be unrest.