Ronaldo deal sealed

United confirmed earlier this month they had accepted a world-record £80million bid from the Primera Division side.

A statement on Madrid's website, www.realmadrid.com, on Friday evening read: "Real Madrid and Manchester United have signed a final agreement for the transfer of the rights of Cristiano Ronaldo from July 1. The player will be tied to Real Madrid for the next six seasons and will be presented on July 6 at the Santiago Bernabeu."

The Portugal superstar came close to joining Madrid last summer before Sir Alex Ferguson convinced him to stay at Old Trafford.

But Ramon Calderon, who was president of Madrid at the time, claimed this month a "gentleman's agreement" existed over the signing before he left the Spanish giants in January.

Nevertheless, Ronaldo becomes the latest signing in Florentino Perez's Madrid revolution.

Perez, who was responsible for bringing the likes of Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Luis Figo to the Bernabeu in his first stint as president, has already taken Brazil star Kaka from AC Milan and Spain international Raul Albiol from Valencia.

Ronaldo joined Manchester United back in 2003 from Sporting Lisbon for £12.24million and was given the number seven shirt vacated by Beckham.

He won the FA Cup in his first season and, though he impressed with his skills, was often criticised for a lack of end product.

In the 2006-07 season he won his first Premier League title, and also claimed the PFA Young Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year awards. But it was the 2007-08 season which defined him as one of the greatest players in the world game.