Cristiano Ronaldo 'wants £500,000 a week to join Chelsea or Man Utd'

Half a million a week or take a walk . That's the message from Cristiano Ronaldo to the Premier League, alleges the Daily Mail, which claims that the perfectly groomed Portuguese goal machine is demanding "a ground-breaking £500,000-a-week to join either Chelsea or Manchester United" next summer. Ronaldo is currently on a rather miserly £350,000-a-week at Real and not surprisingly he believes he's worth more given his exceptional ability at kicking a ball into a net.

According to the Mail, United's signing of Radamel Falcao a fortnight ago on a deal which will earn the Colombian £280,000-a-week has prompted Ronaldo to make his demands. He shares the same agent as Falcao - Jorge Mendes – and it's believed the pair are quietly confident they can persuade United to cough up the cash in order to bring Ronaldo back to Old Trafford. And even if the Red Devils reject the ultimatum, the Mail says that Chelsea may step into the breach with Mendes apparently enjoying good relations with Blues manager Jose Mourinho and owner Roman Abramovich.

Still with United, the Daily Mirror says that they will "offer Juan Mata as bait" in their bid to sign Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman in January. Though the Italian outfit's sporting director Walter Sabatini said the 24-year-old was not for sale recently, United boss Louis van Gaal is said to be "a huge fan" of Strootman having worked with him during his time in charge of the Dutch national team. As for Mata, his future is in doubt at Old Trafford and the Mirror says the Spaniard will be re-evaluating his options in Manchester in the coming months following the summer arrival of Falcao and Angel Di Maria. The 26-year-old Mata, who scored for United in their 4-0 win over QPR on Sunday, is known to be on Roma's wish list and a move could be made in the New Year if all parties agree it's for the best in the long-term. The figure quoted by the Mirror for Mata is £20m, some £17m less than the sum United paid to Chelsea to acquire his services last season.

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Finally, the Daily Star says that Manchester City "face losing England midfielder James Milner to the highest bidder" in the January transfer window. The 28-year-old England star is out of contract at the end of the season and City's concern is that he could leave on a free if they don't get him to sign an extension in the months ahead. Everton, Arsenal and Liverpool are all said to be interested in Milner and the Star claims that the Sky Blues would be prepared to "accept a £5m offer for a player they value at £15m". If City do sell, they would need to bring in an Englishman to meet home-grown quota requirements and it's believed the Southampton pair of James Ward-Prowse and Jay Rodriquez are being monitored by club scouts.