SOCCER/Manchester United 5 Gamba Osaka 3:ALEX FERGUSON has issued a scathing denunciation of Real Madrid's latest claim on Cristiano Ronaldo and insisted he "wouldn't sell them a virus", let alone the newly crowned European Footballer of the Year.
The Manchester United manager may be in Japan for the Fifa Club World Cup, where his side reached the final with a 5-3 defeat of Gamba Osaka yesterday, but there is no escaping the saga that has plagued him all year.
A Real director had told El Mundo newspaper they have a pre-contract agreement for the Portugal winger to move to the Bernabeu next summer.
Pedro Trapote was quoted as saying a deal was already done for Ronaldo but that "it is best to not say anything because there are some clauses that prevent us from announcing it now".
That drew an indignant response from Ferguson following the win over Gamba. The United manager, whose side could be paired with Real in the draw for the Champions League knock-out stage today, said: "You don't think we'd get into a contract with that mob, do you? Jesus Christ. I wouldn't sell them a virus. So there is no agreement between the clubs."
Ferguson added it was not a coincidence that Real should revive the Ronaldo story at a time when they have just sacked Bernd Schuster as coach and lost to their La Liga rivals Barcelona.
"Real Madrid will blame anybody but themselves for their problems. I said to David Gill when we sold [Gabriel] Heinze that you can bet yourself the Cristiano thing would start up again. I said to him it will happen again in January. We have to ignore it because we can't keep worrying about them.
"We need to concentrate on our own publicity and our own form. There can be anger in this situation and we can get annoyed. But there's no point. We know their game and it won't affect us."
Ronaldo refused to comment on the renewed links with Real following the semi-final win in Yokohama, where he scored United's second goal, while Ferguson was less forthcoming on criticism from the English FA over Patrice Evra's role in the "Battle of Stamford Bridge".
United have been accused of providing inconsistent, unreliable and misleading evidence to the independent FA commission that investigated Evra's run-in with a Chelsea groundsman and banned him for four matches.
Ferguson's assistant, Mike Phelan, was singled out for criticism in a detailed report of the case the FA published on its website. "Talking about that would take up too much time but we're disappointed with what they've done and I don't think it's very clever," the United manager said. "That's all I can really say."
United's victory over Gamba Osaka featured two goals by the substitute Wayne Rooney, who was used at centre forward in Dimitar Berbatov's absence. "He is playing more like a number nine now and he could easily be the best number nine in the world," said Rio Ferdinand afterwards.
"He has more tools in his game than any other number nine in the world. It is just about him being given the time to do that."
Nemanja Vidic and Ronaldo both converted first-half headers but the Japanese side responded with a fine goal from Masato Yamazaki. However, Rooney soon scored with his first touch of the game and Darren Fletcher headed United's fourth before Rooney struck again.
Gamba Osaka made the final scoreline more respectable with late goals from Yasuhito Endo and Hideo Hashimoto
