The Times will not make pleasant reading for Sir Alex Ferguson on Thursday. The Manchester United manager has spent the best part of the summer trying to persuade Cristiano Ronaldo to stay, while the likes of Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand have also been using the press to convince their team-mate that he shoud stick around. However, Carlos Tevez has not been reading from the same script.

The Argentina striker knows as well as anybody that footballers are like (expensive) pieces of meat, and he has urged the United number seven to make the decision that’s right for him, not Man United, Real Madrid or anyone else. We can’t imagine his manager is too happy about these comments!

“The [United] team has great players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, of course,” Tévez said. “It’s clear that he is a very important player for us, but this is a personal decision, which is up to only him.

“I understand Cristiano. Every footballer wants to play at Real Madrid. On the other hand, I also think that everyone wants to play for Manchester United, but if what he seeks is something else, I think that should be respected. I have not talked to him, but when these things happen, neither side feels good.”

Such a wise head on such young shoulders! But with Ronaldo currently injured and the English champions in no mood to discuss a potential sale, it may be that Real Madrid have to cool their interest in the Portuguese forward, at least until next summer.