Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted on Sunday that the summer-long Cristiano Ronaldo transfer saga has created a permanent rift with Real Madrid.

Ferguson revealed that Real made an official bid for the Portuguese star last month, but that move came after two months of attempts to entice the winger to La Liga.

And the United boss remains furious at the Spanish club's tactics.

He told The News Of The World: "We haven't had any recent contact with Real Madrid. Has there been any attempt to heal the rift? Yeah, that will be right!

"They put a bid in. I don't know if it was fax or letter or whatever. Just one. It was sometime in the summer.

"But the final decision was taken at the end of the season when the first nonsense appeared and Cristiano referred to his future being decided in the next few days.

"It was decided there and then he was staying. There was never any change in our stance."

The newspaper also claim that Real are set to sue Ronaldo for 17-million pounds (32.6-million dollars) compensation over his failure to join them.

The Spanish club are claiming that Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes struck the deal with them at the start of the summer.

AFP