CRISTIANO RONALDO has rocked Manchester United by insisting: I want to join Real Madrid.

The Portuguese winger dropped his bombshell on the eve of the European championships.

He will be offered incredible wages of £75million AFTER TAX over five years and the Spaniards are also prepared to pay a £75m transfer fee.

Ronaldo, 23, told respected Brazilian website Terra: “I would like to play for Real Madrid but only if it is true they are ready to pay what Manchester United ask of them. However, it does not depend on me.”

The loss of Ronaldo would be a huge blow to United and defender Rio Ferdinand immediately pleaded with him to stay at Old Trafford.

He said: “This team can get better but we need it to stay together.” Rio, in Nigeria promoting Education in Football, added: “We have worked hard to get to the position we are in and want to build on the success we have had.

''That means keeping all the players at the club. ”

PLEA ... Rio Ferdinand

Boss Alex Ferguson has maintained United would never sell their superstar.

But Ronaldo has always said he wanted to play for Real one day and the astonishing £300,000-a- week wages on offer could clinch the deal.

Ronaldo, who was withdrawn from a scheduled Euro 2008 Press conference in Geneva today, added: “From today I’m not going to talk about this topic with anyone.

“I’ll only talk about this again after the European Championships.”

Julio Gomes Filho, the journalist who interviewed him at Portugal’s training camp in Switzerland, has known Ronaldo since he was 17. He revealed: “Ronaldo wanted me to send his message out. He didn’t want to do it at a Press conference.”

But United are adamant they will not sell. A spokesman said: “Our position remains unchanged.

“We made our position clear last week that Cristiano Ronaldo has a contract with this club and is not going to be sold.”

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Ronaldo, who hit 42 goals last season, had been on the verge of agreeing a new United deal but a source close to him admitted: “The amount of money Real are bandying around is staggering. There’s no doubt it has caused him to have a rethink.”

Relations between the two clubs are at rock bottom and United may report the Spaniards for making their pursuit of Ronaldo public.

Bernabeu president Ramon Calderon had conceded on Wednesday the signing of Ronaldo “seems impossible.”

But Ronaldo’s bombshell is sure to encourage them to step up the hunt.

Cristiano Ronaldo is an 11/2 SunBET 'Football Special' NOT to score a single goal in Euro2008.