BBC SPORT | Football | Europe | Real 'revive Ronaldo interest'

Newspaper reports in Spain suggest Real Madrid are close to signing Ronaldo after all.

Sports daily Marca reveals on Wednesday that the on-off deal could be concluded "in a matter of hours".

The paper said that the Brazilian's Italian club Inter Milan and Real have begun negotiations, paving the way for a meeting between Inter president Massimo Moratti and Real's Florentino Perez to seal the deal.

Moratti said on Tuesday that Ronaldo could leave if the Italian club received "a serious offer".

Real are understood to be ready to offer �31m for the striker who recovered from a long-term injury in time to become the leading scorer at the World Cup in June.

Ronaldo has been under pressure since returning to Milan

The Spanish club may also offer one or more players as part of the deal, with French midfielder Claude Makelele or Brazilian Flavio Conceicao moving to Italy.

The transfer saga began at the start of August when Ronaldo's agent Alexandre Martins announced that Ronaldo was keen to join Real.

However, when the Brazilian returned to Italy for pre-season training, Moratti said that Ronaldo would have to see out of his contract, which runs until 2006.

When Ronaldo was left out of Inter's squad for Wednesday's Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon, speculation began again that the deal was back on.

Ronaldo 'staying at Inter'

The 25-year-old would be the third of the world's great players to arrive at the Bernebeu in successive summers since Perez's election as club president in July 2000.

Real broke the world transfer record shortly after Perez took charge to sign Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo from arch rivals Barcelona for �36m.

A year later, they made a �42m swoop for French star Zinedine Zidane.


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