Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has given the orders to sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. The Red Devils have accepted an offer of £80 million for Ronaldo from the Spanish club and it looks almost certain that the deal will be done.

Ferguson has been given the go-ahead by the club to target other stars and has a £100 million transfer fund to do so.

With that he plans to challenge Chelsea for Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery and also has the free-scoring Lyon striker Karim Benzema in his sights.

A deal for Wigan winger Antonio Valencia is expected to be completed soon.