Man Utd Consider Attempt to Beat Juventus to €100m Ronaldo Deal as Real Madrid Exit Looms

Manchester United have been tipped to make a late attempt to re-sign former Old Trafford hero Cristiano Ronaldo before he seals an expected exit from Real Madrid to join Juventus.

Juve lodged a €100m (£88m) bid earlier this week, while it was also reported that Ronaldo had reached a 'total agreement' with the Italian champions over a contract worth €30m per year.

VI-Images/GettyImages

At that point it was suggested by Marca that Ronaldo is now 'more likely to leave than not', with a final formal agreement between Real and Juve all that was seemingly preventing the seismic deal from being completed.

The latest from Marca now claims that crucial 'exit agreement' was hammered out on Wednesday night at a meeting between Los Blancos president Florentino Perez, his right-hand man Angel Sanchez and super-agent Jorge Mendes.

Sanchez is said to have asked Mendes to formally present the €100m offer from Juventus for approval from the Bernabeu hierarchy, with the Portuguese obliging. The final decision for the Ronaldo camp apparently came as the idea of a pay rise to stay at Real was hardly mentioned.

Marca also notes that both parties are keen for the exit to be 'positive and civil'.

But for as long as Ronaldo isn't a Juventus player, former club United are said to be ready to make their own last ditch attempt to tempt the five-time Ballon d'Or winner back to Manchester.

A report from The Sun claims that United are 'crunching the numbers' as they prepare to make Ronaldo a rival offer of their own that matches Juventus at around £510,000-per-week.

Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who has been keen on bringing Ronaldo back to United ever since he took over day to day management of the club in 2013, is said to be looking for a way to beat Juve to the punch, with the Red Devils 'not frightened' by the figures involved.

Matching Juventus' offer would go close to the club record £89m United paid for Paul Pogba in 2016, while Ronaldo would also become the top earner at Old Trafford by some distance.

Ryan Pierse/GettyImages

Whether it is too late remains an issue. The Sun's report is confident that a deal between Real and Juventus is 'far from done', but that doesn't match up with what the Spanish press have been saying, with assumptions over there that everything looks fairly close to being finalised.