MANCHESTER United are so determined not to sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid that they would let him rot on the sidelines rather than cave in to pressure should the player and the Spanish champions try to force through a move. The hardline stance was spelt out by Sir Alex Ferguson and comes directly from the Glazer family, who control United. For United’s American owners, standing up to Real has become a point of principle and they are understood to have echoed in private the vow that Ferguson has made publicly - not to allow the Spanish giants to “ride roughshod” over their club.

“The thing people miss the point about is that I’ve had a couple of meetings with the Glazers,” said Ferguson. “Their attitude is ‘to hell with them’ (Real). They would sit a player in the stand. There’s absolutely no doubt about it. They’d do it just to prove a point and not to give in to these people. They’ve got balls, I can tell you. I’ve been delighted with them in that respect.”

It is believed that Real are ready to test United’s resolve, however, by lodging a world record bid for Ronaldo of as much as £70m. Though Ramon Calderon, the president at the Bernabeu, made comments on Thursday that appeared to end his club’s interest in Ronaldo, it is suspected these were merely to head off United’s threat to report Real to Fifa over their previously public pursuit of the player.

Real will continue private efforts to land Ronaldo and hope that the player can be pressured to drive the transfer himself by asking for a move. The Spaniards believe that this, coupled with the extraordinary sum they are willing to pay, could tempt United to sell. However, the Glazers appear to be standing firm The six children of United’s owner, Malcolm Glazer - Joel, Avram, Bryan, Kevin, Edward and Darcy - were in Moscow for the Champions League final, staying at the United team hotel, and spoke informally to Ferguson about priorities for the summer transfer window. Retaining Ronaldo is top of the list and a letter has reportedly been sent to Real informing them United will not sell their superstar, even if he asks for a move.

Carlos Queiroz, Ferguson’s No 2, stoked up the ill-feeling between the clubs by accusing Real of a “lack of ethics”, and although Calderon has said Real were “not going to start a conflict” over Ronaldo, it has failed to defuse United’s anger. The European champions are upset by comments from Real they believe were aimed at unsettling their player, including the statement from coach Bernd Schuster that the Spaniards have suspended other transfer business in order to concentrate on signing Ronaldo - “a big priority”.

Speaking at Portugual’s Euro 2008 training camp, Ronaldo continued to give the impression his head had been turned by Real’s interest, saying he would “have news” about his future after the championship.

Ferguson, though, is confident his bosses will back his fight to keep his star and hada message for supporters who fought against the Americans’ takeover in 2005. “They (the Glazers) have been good to this club. They’ve been brilliant owners,” he said. “All the nonsense about them taking the club over and putting it in debt . . . every takeover is done by debt. If I wanted to buy Marks & Spencer do you think I could just go under the floorboards and pull out £3bn? No, I’d go to the Bank of Scotland.”