The Times Transfer Bulletin: United accept £80m bid for Ronaldo

THE NEWSManchester United have accepted a world-record £80million offer from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo. United have given Real permission to talk to the Portugal winger and the deal is expected to be completed before the end of the month. Ronaldo's contract at United runs out in 2012 and the Premier League champions decided to allow him to leave after the 24-year-old made it clear that his heart was still set on moving to Spain. Oliver Kay, our Football Correspondent, says the sale of Ronaldo leaves United with a problem: "They will have to replace him with not one but two new players: a brilliant winger and a prolific goalscorer." Who should Sir Alex Ferguson spend the money on? Have your say. Chelsea's summer transfer plans have taken a blow after they were quoted a £65m asking price by Bayern Munich for Franck Ribery. Sergio Aguero, the Atletico Madrid striker, and David Villa, the Valencia forward, are also on Chelsea's radar in the event that they fail to lure the Frenchman to Stamford Bridge. Fulham have entered the race for Stephen Hunt, the Reading midfielder. The Premier League club watched Hunt play for Ireland against Bulgaria last weekend.Fraizer Campbell has indicated to Hull that he will join them when he returns from England Under-21 duty at the European Championship. The Tigers have agreed to pay Manchester United £6m for the forward, who has been in contract talks.Amaury Bischoff could be about to leave Arsenal for Paris Saint-Germain, just one year after the midfield player joined from Werder Bremen when he was out of contract. The 22-year-old made his debut as a substitute against Wigan in the Carling Cup in November.Lyons have declared their interest in signing Patrick Vieira from Inter Milan. "This season, [coach] Claude Puel regretted not having a leader," Jean-Michel Aulas, the Lyons president, said. "Patrick has this charisma that can create the conditions for Lyons to be more ambitious."------------------------------------------------THE RIVALSDrog will snub City - The SunDidier Drogba has reneged on his plan to leave Chelsea and will reject an offer from Manchester City. A source said. "The player wants to stay."Gary Jacob's verdict: This is likely. Over the past 18 months, Drogba has repeatedly suggested he is unhappy at Stamford Bridge, but he has had a change of heart and is set to sign a new contract. His current deal has a year left on it. Rating: 8/10It could be Blues for Pirlo - Daily MirrorAndrea Pirlo, the AC Milan midfielder, has said that his proposed move to Chelsea could still happen despite the sale of Kaka to Real Madrid.Gary's verdict: Chelsea hope to rejuvenate their ageing midfield and the 30-year-old Pirlo does not fit the type of player they want. At best it would represent a short-term solution but more probable is that it is wishful thinking on Pirlo's part. 6/10Arjen scrap - The SunReal Madrid have put Arjen Robben up for sale for £7m, with Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool interested in the winger.Gary's verdict: A contact of mine in Madrid says Real are looking to sell Robben because he has suffered a lot of injuries though they are likely to ask for more than £7m. Liverpool and Tottenham are the most likely suitors as both are looking for a left winger. 6/10Barca rob Job - The SunRobinho has stunned Manchester City by revealing that he wants to join Barcelona. "The whole world would love to play there," he said.Gary's verdict: Robinho would certainly be interested in a transfer. He wanted to accept an offer from Chelsea in January when Luis Felipe Scolari was in charge but City refused to sell. And Barca would be interested in signing him but they won't match his exorbitant wages at City. 5/10Dunne on his way - Daily MailSunderland, Stoke and Tottenham will bid for Richard Dunne after Manchester City made him available for £5m.Gary's verdict: After an indifferent season from Dunne, the club have put him up for sale, not least because they also hope to bring in a new centre-half - possibly Matthew Upson. Tottenham showed interest in him last summer but they have since signed Vedran Corluka. Dunne will not join Stoke so Sunderland is his most likely destination of the three. 7/10Hammers hope to hijack Sturridge deal - Daily MailGianfranco Zola will make a bold attempt to persuade the Manchester City forward to join him at Upton Park rather than go to Chelsea.Gary's verdict: West Ham might try that but Sturridge's transfer to Chelsea is almost completed. As I understand, they and City are currently discussing a compensation fee for him as he is out of contract but under 23 and therefore cannot join them on a free. 6/10Rovers want spark of Zoro - Daily MirrorBlackburn will revive their interest in Marco Zoro, the Ivory Coast defender playing for Benfica.Gary's verdict: Sam Allardyce is likely to try to buy a central defender with the money from the likely sale of Roque Santa Cruz. Zoro, who was on trial at West Ham last summer, is a realistic option. 7/10------------------------------------------------GUIDE TO THE TRANSFER WINDOW Deal or no deal - silly season is here againThe window promises to leave managers, chairmen, agents and supporters in a daze, so read our basic guide to how deals are brokered Undisclosed fees, transfer payments and loan deals explained Graphic: the anatomy of a transfer from start to finishThe quintessential middleman - all your questions answered about agentsTransfer terminology: what "I'm their player until told otherwise" really means ------------------------------------------------HAVE YOUR SAY"As a life long fan of West Ham, albeit from a distance, I'm interested to know your thoughts about their future under Gianfranco Zola. Do you see them as content with mid-table finishes or wishing to improve and strive for a European place? Given their recent history I was pleased with their final position this season and feel that they would do well to finish as high next season unless they make a few good additions over the summer."PatrickGary Jacob: It has been a pleasure watching Zola's West Ham, compared with some of the sterile football of the previous two seasons. It was a difficult decision for the Icelandic owners to appoint a Chelsea great, but they took advice, including Tony Gale, and he has been excellent. Zola and Steve Clarke, his assistant, are highly ambitious. They won't settle for mid-table, but competing for a European spot could be harder next season. There are at least eight teams potentially with stronger squads: the so-called big four, Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City.As much as Zola said he wanted to finish seventh to claim a European spot this season, it was a blessing in disguise that they never qualified. Injuries to a few key players towards the end of the season showed the shallow depth of a sizeable squad. It is time to trim and bring in better players. Zola and Gianluca Nani, the technical director, have their work cut out in attracting players without a large transfer budget. They will have to raise some money by selling players, so look for Luis Boa Morte, Julien Faubert, Calum Davenport, Nigel Quashie and Matthew Upson to be sold this summer. Nani has scouted several players in Italy and I expect that they will try to sign a several players on loan. They want a back-up goalkeeper, a right back, and two forwards.This week, the club was effectively repossessed by the banks that lent the Icelandic owners the money and it awaits to be seen how the asset company that now owns West Ham will run the club. The company claim that they have a three-year plan, but personally, I believe they will sell as soon as they get a decent offer. You have to remember that the asset company has creditors too, and so it may be better to sell for a certain price than risk looking for a higher price, and the club's value plummeting if they were relegated. This change in ownership will affect Zola's transfer kitty. The asset company are unlikely to want to invest much, if any money, in the club, which will be asked to balance their budget. It's comparable to a bank repossessing a house and renting it until the market improves to sell: the bank will try to put just enough money into the house to maintain it's condition."Are Sanli Tuncay and Sylvain Distin plausible signings for Liverpool? And will any club take a chance on Stewart Downing?"PhilGJ: I don't think that Tuncay is good enough for Liverpool. He would be a squad player at best at Anfield. Distin is more realistic and would be inexpensive, not least because he has one year left on his contract at Portsmouth. If Liverpool were flush for money this summer, I'd suggest that they would try to sign Upson from West Ham, but money is tight. They want to sign Glen Johnson and a winger."With Spurs being unusually quiet by their standards so far this close season and rumours being a bit flaky at best, who do you see them signing this season? With Harry Redknapp in charge activity will be inevitable, but does he need to sell first before he buys as he stated? Is Ruud van Nistelrooy a genuine target?""DanGJ: As I mentioned last week, when Redknapp says "I'm looking for one or two free transfers" as he has done, he really means "I want to shake up the squad and bring in five or six". Harry likes big squads, which gives him choices, and he likes his players. Maybe for his benefit, he will take an opportunity to criticise previous transfer strategy, albeit sometimes correctly.Tottenham's net spend in the summer window starting from 2004 is: £12.1m, £5m, £12.15m, £29.6m, £-10m. In January, they spent around £42m net and the club gave warning that they would have raise transfer money this summer by selling players. Expect the following first team players to be available for transfers: Darren Bent, Roman Pavlyuchenko, David Bentley, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Dorian Dervitte, Gilberto, Giovani dos Santos, Alan Hutton, Jermaine Jenas, Didier Zokora and Tom Huddlestone. On top of that, several youth players may leave for a nominal fee.I expect Redknapp to sign a combative midfield player, two forwards (one of whom is aggressive and one in the John Carew mould), a left winger and possibly another centre back (depending where they see Corluka playing in future. He wants to play centre back but has played right back for them).Ask Gary Jacob a question relating to transfer gossip at your club and he'll return his verdict.E-mail: sport@timesonline.co.uk