Fergie would scupper City's Ron raid

A reported source says Cristiano Ronaldo's respect for Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson would stop him joining Manchester City.

City have been linked with a possible January swoop for the Portugal international star after he admitted on Saturday he was unhappy at Spanish champions Real Madrid and that was the reason he failed to celebrate his two goals in their La Liga win against Granada at the weekend. Ronaldo, who joined Real Madrid in an £85million move in summer 2009, has since insisted that his gripe with the club is not motivated by money. However, while the player is seemingly unhappy at the Santiago Bernabeu, there is a real possibility that he could be offloaded at the next available opportunity. Big spending City and United are two of the clubs mentioned as possible destinations, but a source has been quoted as saying that Ronaldo would never move to the Etihad Stadium out of respect for Red Devils boss Ferguson. Quoted in the Sun, the mystery source said: "Cristiano has always been close to Alex Ferguson and even now they still talk. Cristiano simply would not risk hurting him by joining Ferguson's immediate rivals."