Gill plays down City winger bid talk

Manchester United chief executive David Gill says he is not taking the claims Man City will bid £135m for Cristiano Ronaldo seriously.

Gill has broken his silence after it was revealed by Sulaiman Al-Fahim, the billionaire businessman at the centre of the Manchester City takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group, said that the club would be looking to take the Portuguese star from Old Trafford to Eastlands in a world record deal.

Al-Fahim also suggested Arsenal's Cesc Fabrgas and Liverpool's Fernando Torres were on his shopping list, but Gill has just played it down.

He told BBC Radio Five Live: "It was an interesting comment, I think it's a fan's-type comment.

"It's interesting when Alex [Ferguson] mentioned the Dimitar Berbatov signing in advance that complaints were made to the Premier League.

"He mentioned Torres and Fabregas in the same article so I think we will treat that with a pinch of salt.

"I have never met the gentleman. That is a fantastic amount of money and would turn the industry upside down so I can't believe he is serious at those sorts of levels.

"Ultimately we would discuss any offer with Alex and the owners, as that sort of money is very large for one person. But we are not in the market to sell our best players."