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Ronaldo will not leave Madrid for United, says agent

Cristiano Ronaldo may play for Real Madrid until he is 40, according to his agent Jorge Mendes © Getty Images

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Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has no intention of ever rejoining Manchester United, his agent Jorge Mendes has told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope.

Ronaldo spent six years at Old Trafford earlier in his career and has been heavily linked with a return through recent months.

Reports suggested a deal was being put together ahead of a summer 2015 transfer, which lead many United fans to grow increasingly hopeful of the transfer taking place; one group even hired a plane to fly a "come home Ronaldo" banner over the stadium.

Ronaldo 'risked career' playing through injury

Cristiano Ronaldo had knee and thigh issues © Getty Images

• Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted he took risks with his career by playing in Real Madrid's Champions League final last May and the summer's World Cup with Portugal.
• Ronaldo struggled with a tendinosis issue in his knee and related thigh muscle problems through the final months of the 2013-14 campaign.
• While Madrid's medical staff reportedly wanted him to stop playing and allow the knee to heal completely, the player himself decided to "manage" the problem by only featuring in Madrid's most important games.
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The current Ballon D'Or holder's phenomenal 13 goals in 6 league games this season had only helped build optimism in Manchester over the move. However, his representative Mendes has told the programme El Partido de los 12 that his client was not interested in leaving Madrid.

"[Ronaldo] is loved by United because his heart was there for six years," the Portuguese agent said. "But now he is just thinking about Real Madrid and he will stay here forever. He could not be happier. He respects the people who remember him, but he is with Madrid to the death.

"I do not receive offers because people know it is impossible to take Cristiano out of Real Madrid, so it is not worth calling to ask about him."

Ronaldo's most recent hat-trick during Sunday's 5-0 dismantling of Athletic Bilbao took him to a record mark of 22 trebles in La Liga, alongside legendary figures Alfredo Di Stefano and Telmo Zarra. The Portugal captain now has 269 goals in 257 games for Madrid, within reach of Di Stefano's total of 307 and Raul Gonzalez's club record of 323.

His current contract, signed just over 12 months ago, runs until June 2018, and pays around £15.8 million (€20m) a year. Mendes suggested his client was keen to stay much longer at the Bernabeu, overcome all the available challenges there, potentially playing for Madrid for another decade or more.

"You are never going to find another like him," he said. "He is getting better every day, and will be maybe better until he is 40. Cristiano is very happy at Real Madrid and has always been very happy. He will beat all the records there are to beat at the Blancos club and he will retire here."

The agent was equally fulsome in his praise of Ronaldo as a player and a person.

"As well as being the best player, he is the best athlete in the world," Mendes said. "You cannot compare him with anyone. There will be nobody like him in the next 500 years.

"He is a very humble and family-focused person. A spectacular father. He is the son any mother would want to have. He worries about other people. He has so many good things it is impossible to describe him."

Gareth Bale has also recently declared he would not like to see his Madrid team-mate Ronaldo leave for a second spell in English football.

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