The future of Cristiano Ronaldo seems no closer to a resolution, after Bernd Schuster, the Real Madrid coach, spoke with alarming certainty on the player's arrival in Spain.
Schuster was speaking to calm supporters' fears that the signing of the Manchester United player could herald the return of the "Galacticos'. And despite Ronaldo insisting he wants to stay in England, the Madrid coach said that while his arrival would not cause a problem for the team, he might find it hard to adjust to life in Spain.
When asked if signing Ronaldo would cause problems in the team, the German coach replied: "Not at all. Here he'd line up alongside world champions like (Fabio) Cannavaro, important players like Raul, Guti, (Ruud) Van Nistelrooy, Pepe, (Gabriel) Heinze. In this Madrid side the kid wouldn't create any problems. I only see it causing a problem for him."
However, Schuster hinted the levels of media intrusion in Spain would be different to what he was used to in England, and likened the impact his signing would have to that of David Beckham's arrival from Manchester United in 2003.
"The media explosion [would be a problem]," Schuster added. "For the fans this signing would be an amazing explosion similar to what happened here when Beckham arrived. This isn't England, and that change will affect him. We have to be clever about this and sort this problem out for the kid.
"Cristiano would help us in a lot of ways, without a doubt, but we can't stop with just him," he explained. "He'll be expensive and we'll have to pay a lot of money, but we need more players because he won't be enough.
Despite the continuing speculation to the contrary, Cristiano Ronaldo insists that he is happy at Manchester United and "would love to continue" at Old Trafford.
While not denying that it remains "a dream" to play in Spain, Ronaldo reiterated his desire to stay at Old Trafford in an interview with Portuguese newspaper Publico yesterday. Despite this the speculation continues unabated with Schuster, insisting the player had grown during his time in England.
"He's a player who enjoys his football with the group," he said. "The English way has been a perfect education for a player with such exceptional individual talent. There he has learned to enjoy his football as a complete professional. This means we would get a Cristiano who would arrive here with his lessons learned."
