Ronaldo says he won't report to Man. United

Cristiano Ronaldo is refusing to return to Manchester to talk to Sir Alex Ferguson and United about the ongoing saga with Real Madrid, in a new twist to the tale.

The 23-year-old has opted to stay away from negotiations that were scheduled for Tuesday and will now incur the wrath of the English giants.

Spanish daily Marca reports that Ronaldo has told friends: "I am not going to go to Manchester." While that's emblazoned on the paper's front page, inside Ronaldo was less forthcoming when a a reporter caught up with him as he only commented: "I cannot say anything right now."

According to the story, the Portuguese star does not want to make a statement for fear of jeopardizing any chance he has of moving to the Bernabéu this summer.

Instead, he is going to remain in Gerés, a small town in the north of Portugal and consider what he should do next while his representatives talk to the Red Devils.

Ferguson appeared confident that the player would stay for at least one more season after a visit to Portugal last month and the English press has said that a deal could be in place for him to be sold next summer.

But Madrid's persistence may well be paying off in yet another turn in the road for what has been the story of the summer so far and the next step could be an angry one from United.

Rumors persist that the Spanish club may have used a trick that the previous regime at the club have carried out in the past when Luis Figo moved from Barcelona.

A pre-contract agreement was signed then by the Blaugrana star that if Florentino Pérez won the election then he would move, but if he refused, he would have to pay $46.5 million to escape from the deal.

That effectively meant that Figo was left with little choice and the transfer went through and stunned everyone and the same could be on the cards for Ronaldo.