Manchester United will not break the bank to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo — because he turned them down a year ago to sign a new deal with Real Madrid.
While United would love Ronaldo back at Old Trafford because of his talent and star appeal, a package of about £120million for a player who turns 30 in February is considered a step too far even for the richest club in the world.
United are determined that any potential move next summer will be done on their terms and are prepared to play hardball with Real, a club experiencing financial difficulties and expected to announce debts of nearly £400m at their annual general meeting on Sunday.

Likewise, there is little appetite to match Ronaldo’s wages in Madrid of £300,000 a week after tax and upset their other top United stars Wayne Rooney, Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria.
There is still irritation within the corridors of power at United that Ronaldo flirted with a return last year but ultimately used the club’s interest as a negotiating tool to sign a new five-year deal with Madrid — a move that makes him far more expensive to secure this time around.
Real would want about £60m for Ronaldo next summer because the player would still have three years left on his contract and he would demand to be United’s highest-paid player with a four-year deal of about £300,000 a week.
It would all add up to a £120m expenditure on a player who might not be the same force in his thirties as he has been over the past decade, despite remaining in stunning goalscoring form. On Saturday he bagged the 27th hat-trick of his career as Real romped to an 8-2 win at Deportivo La Coruna.

In addition, the club have already embarked on a huge spending spree since being rejected by Ronaldo. The Glazers have paid £215m in transfer fees over the past 13 months on new players and an additional £50m is earmarked to make Falcao’s move from Monaco permanent next summer.
Their latest financial results in September reported an 84 per cent drop in profits to £23m. Nobody at Old Trafford will want to completely rule out Ronaldo’s return as it would help to cement their worldwide popularity but a deal will only become likely if United feel it can be done with either a greatly reduced transfer fee or wage demands.
That possibility does exist, though, with Madrid’s latest set of financial figures shedding light on why they sold Di Maria in the summer.
The biggest concern for the club’s president Florentino Perez is that, while the debt has shot up by 11.3 per cent from the previous year, income has only increased by five per cent in the same period.
If the club’s debt continues to rise they would have to forgo their special status as a sporting association in Spain and, as a consequence, lose certain tax perks that they share with three other clubs — Barcelona, Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao. That special status is currently under investigation by the European Commission as possible illegal state aid to clubs.