Sir Alex Ferguson cancels his Cristiano Ronaldo peace visit

Sir Alex Ferguson once famously rode pillion on a motorcycle journey across Paris to persuade Eric Cantona not to retire, but it seems that there will be no mercy dash to try to talk some sense into Cristiano Ronaldo. Ferguson had planned to fly to Lisbon today in an attempt to clear the air with the Portugal forward, but instead the Manchester United manager will stay at home to focus on his attempt to sign Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur, raising further doubts about Ronaldo’s future at Old Trafford.

Ferguson and Ronaldo have not seen each other since a celebratory party at Old Trafford on May 22, the night after their Champions League triumph over Chelsea in Moscow, and it is understood that there has been little, if any, telephone contact between the men, with their relationship strained by the player’s repeated statement that he wishes to move to Real Madrid.

Ferguson, having initially tried to ignore the furore over Ronaldo, appeared ready to spring into action by flying to Portugal this morning to try to end the unedifying stand-off, but that trip has been cancelled, seemingly because the United manager has other priorities.

It is not clear whether the two had, directly or otherwise, spoken to discuss a meeting today or whether Ferguson planned simply to arrive on Ronaldo’s doorstep. Ferguson, unsurprisingly, has been incensed by Ronaldo’s behaviour in recent weeks – from the initial flirting with Real to the crass suggestion last week that he felt like a “slave” at United – while the player and his entourage have encouraged the perception, accurate or otherwise, that he has been hurt by his manager’s “rot in the stands” comment five weeks ago and by a lack of direct contact with regard to an ankle operation that could keep him out of action until early October.

Visiting Ronaldo would have been a significant gesture from Ferguson – an act that was encouraged by Carlos Queiroz, who left his role as United assistant manager on Friday to take charge of Portugal. Two summers ago, when Ronaldo was again making eyes at Real while fearing the fallout from his involvement in Wayne Rooney’s red card for England against Portugal in the World Cup quarter-final, Ferguson succeeded in persuading him to return to Old Trafford, but there will be no such meeting this time unless the Scot can somehow find time to fly to Lisbon tomorrow before departing for South Africa the following day for the start of United’s preseason tour.

Ferguson hopes that Berbatov could be signed in time to join United on that tour, even though Tottenham have rejected an opening bid of just over £20 million for the Bulgaria forward. United are confident that an agreement will be struck at less than Tottenham’s £30 million valuation. Having rejected firm inquiries from United for Berbatov 12 months ago, Tottenham appear willing to do business this summer as they try to balance their books after spending more than £82 million in the past year, with Daniel Levy, the chairman, admitting in March that some of this summer’s transfer budget had been spent in January.

Berbatov, whose arrival would hasten the departure from Old Trafford of Louis Saha, has informed Juande Ramos of his desire to join United, but at present he is with Tottenham at a training camp near Valencia. They are due to stay in Spain until July 25, but it is quite feasible that Berbatov will join up with United in the meantime.

Ramos hopes to complete the signing of Luis GarcÍa, the Spain forward, from Espanyol this week and he is also looking to offload up to a dozen players, including Paul Robinson, Steed Malbranque, Teemu Tainio and Darren Bent