Just come across this article which fits this thread like a glove.
What a farcical and unproductive summer so far indeed as compared to our main rivals. You will see that Ronaldo the Brat clearly dominated things with his I-am-staying-but-hey-maybe-not antics and probably must have distracted Fergie somewhat in the transfer market...
the independent
Manchester United summer transfers
All the latest transfer news and speculation from Manchester United football club.
CONFIRMED TRANSFERS
IN:
Davide Petrucci; from Roma; free
OUT:
Kieran Lee; to Oldham; free transfer
Gerard Piqué; to Barcelona; undisclosed
SPECULATION:
11 July: Cristiano Ronaldo declared last night that he agreed with the Fifa president Sepp Blatter's assertion that Manchester United should stop treating him like a "modern-day slave" and release him to Real Madrid.
10 July: FIFA president Sepp Blatter believes Cristiano Ronaldo should be allowed to leave Manchester United for Real Madrid if he so desires.
9 July: Burnley manager Owen Coyle is hoping to sign Manchester United winger Chris Eagles in what could be a club-record transfer. Eagles, 22, has found opportunities limited at Old Trafford since making his debut in October 2003, and has not made a first-team appearance since last December.
8 July: Steve Coppell believes Cristiano Ronaldo would be taking a step down if he left Manchester United to join Real Madrid. (PA)
6 July: Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has seemingly conceded defeat in his pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo after admitting "the most likely scenario" is that the winger will stay with Manchester United. (PA)
6 July: Ajax striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar claims Manchester United are "very interested" in signing him. "I know certain English clubs are following me, like Manchester United, who are very interested in me," he told Dutch reporters. (PA)
6 July: Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon insists no discussions have yet been held with Manchester United over the possible transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo. And Calderon is adamant that nothing will happen until the Spanish champions are given the go-ahead by the Old Trafford hierarchy. (PA)
2 July: Cristiano Ronaldo again refused to comment on his future tonight as he returned to Portugal to set a date for ankle surgery. (PA)
1 July: Sir Alex Ferguson is considering a request from newly-promoted Coca-Cola Championship outfit Swansea to take young striker Fabian Brandy on loan. (PA)
1 July: Sir Alex Ferguson expects the end of Euro 2008 to herald a busy spell in the transfer market but insists Manchester United will not be rushing to spend. The United manager has targets, but after a season in which his team won the Barclays Premier League and Champions League he is confident in the quality they already possess and could settle on just one new arrival. Ferguson said: "The European Championship derails transfer activity. Nothing really happens when the championships are on. Obviously, now that is all over, people settle down. Managers are back at their clubs and you can get some dialogue now if they are interested, but I wouldn't think (we would buy) any more than one player. We are looking at one or two things."
Ferguson will continue to monitor movement in the market but does not see many transfer dealings being straightforward.He said: "People think it's easy to buy players nowadays, but it's not because money plays a big part first of all. Clubs with ambitions don't want to sell their best players, so it's not as easy as you'd think and we tend to look for younger ones." (PA)
30 June: Sir Alex Ferguson's hopes of fending off Real Madrid's interest in Cristiano Ronaldo were dealt a blow when the Uefa president, Michel Platini, said the Spanish side's courting of the winger has been "normal".
United had an official complaint against Real rejected by Fifa two weeks ago. Now Platini has said this summer's public war of words has been blown out of proportion. "Every club in the world would like to have Ronaldo," he said. "It's part of the system we have today. Players move from club to club. If [Real Madrid] have the finances, they can do it; if they don't have the money, then they can't."
30 June: According to reports yesterday, the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has promised Premier League newcomers Hull City first option on taking the 20-year-old striker Fraizer Campbell on loan again next season at the KC Stadium. Campbell spent last season on loan at Hull, scoring 15 goals in 34 games. The Tigers' manager Phil Brown wants to make Campbell a permanent signing, and had a £4m offer rejected. The Aston Villa manager, Martin O'Neill, is also reported to be interested in the England Under-21 international.
26 June: Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon today reiterated the Spanish champions are "passive spectators" in the Cristiano Ronaldo saga. The capital club's conduct has angered United, who reported Madrid to world governing body FIFA over what they considered to be attempts to unsettle the player. FIFA refused to take any formal action, however, and Calderon is adamant his club have done nothing wrong. "I suppose they think we have intervened in some way," he told Madrid radio station City FM. "But it's not like that and that's the truth. We know that it's something between the player and Manchester United. If the player continues to insist that he wants to come and if United will consider letting him go, then we'll ask. If the price is right and everyone's happy, then it won't turn sour.
"I prefer not to talk much about him because he is a United player. We are in this situation as passive spectators, but his declarations have provoked a lot of expectation. Nevertheless that is not enough because the player belongs to United, a great club that we are friends with, and we don't want to interfere.
"If it was me, it would make me proud that the big clubs were asking about our players." (PA)
25 June: Bordeaux have conceded defeat in their bid to sign Mikaël Silvestre. The Manchester United defender had been strongly linked with a move back to France. But Les Girondins president Jean-Louis Triaud admits the lure of a lucrative testimonial for the 30-year-old has put the brakes on the switch.
24 June: Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz has advised Cristiano Ronaldo to remain at Old Trafford. (PA)
24 June: Bordeaux have conceded defeat in their bid to sign Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre.
24 June: Cristiano Ronaldo's future at Manchester United remains up in the air after the Portuguese winger went on holiday yesterday.
22 June: Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has urged his club to "pay what is necessary" to take Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu. (PA)
21 June: The battle of wills between Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United looks set to continue for some time as the in-demand winger signalled his intention to "take advantage of a great opportunity" - just hours after the club insisted any offers for the player will fall on deaf ears. (PA)
20 June: Real Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder believes Cristiano Ronaldo could help the Spanish champions win a 10th European Cup should speculation about a move from Manchester United prove correct. (PA)
20 June: Manchester United have confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo is "not for sale" despite comments from the player that he is considering his future at the club. (PA)
19 June: Real Madrid say they are waiting for Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo to make the first move that would allow them to start negotiations with Manchester United over a possible transfer. "We are waiting for Ronaldo to say something, and as soon as he says he wants to play for Real Madrid there will be conversations between the two clubs," Real's director general of the presidency Miguel Angel Arroyo was quoted as saying in sports daily Marca on Thursday. (PA)
17 June: Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones has revealed he is "proud" of reported interest from Manchester United. The holding player, who narrowly missed out on a place in Germany's squad for Euro 2008, has been linked with a move to the Barclays Premier League champions in the German press. (PA)
17 June: Although no action was taken, Fifa did issue a warning to Real of the consequences of inducing the Portugal winger to breach his contract. (PA)
(to be continued...)
