Cristiano Ronaldo in turmoil as he contemplates move away from Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo is a man in turmoil.

The troubled Portuguese superstar will make no attempt to kill talk about his summer departure from the Premier League champions as he contemplates life away from Manchester United.

Even diehard United fans are alarmed at the prospect of another summer of will-he-won't-he transfer speculation.

After the disappointment of their Champions League Final defeat to Barcelona the last thing they want is confusion over their star man's commitment to the cause.

But those who know Ronaldo best now reveal that in the space of a few days his head has once again been turned by the prospect of joining boyhood heroes Real Madrid.

A source close to the player said: "He has taken defeat by Barcelona badly and has started to question whether he feels the time has come to seek out a new challenge.

"His head is all over the place. He's caught between staying loyal to United and excitement at the prospect of a move to Real Madrid."

Prior to the Champions League final, Ronaldo was rubbishing talk of leaving United and declaring his love for the club and manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

But in the space of 90 miserable minutes his position appeared to radically change as United were soundly beaten by Barcelona.

When asked if he would still be at the club next season, Ronaldo, 24, would only reply: "I've played many games under a lot of pressure. The future? We'll see.

"My future for now is the national team, we must win to be back on track in the World Cup qualifiers. I don't want to talk about clubs, I want to rest and go on holiday. I'm very tired."

The United winger's conflicting statements about are leading to the growing belief that he has played his last game for the club. Last summer he was at the centre of controversial claims by Spanish giants Real Madrid over a projected £70million transfer.

He eventually opted to stay, and even maintained that the thought of leaving United had never crossed his mind.

Clearly, Ferguson will have a massive task - again - in stabilising the Ronaldo situation.

The Old Trafford boss avoids making emotional decisions on the spur of the moment.

Seasoned Old Trafford watchers have pointed out that it was after league and cup disappointments in 1995 that he authorised the biggest playing cull of his managerial career.

Soon after losing the FA Cup Final to Everton, he sanctioned the sale of Paul Ince to Inter Milan, allowed Mark Hughes to join Chelsea on a free transfer and was forced to deal with Andrei Kanchelskis' request to join Everton.

Fergie believes players should be proud to represent United and demands total commitment and loyalty. He certainly wouldn't want to lose a player of Ronaldo's ability, but the question is: can everyone connected with United live through another Ronaldo sideshow?

The moment may be fast arriving when a 24-year-old superstar has to decide where he wants his football home - Manchester or Madrid?

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