Inter Milan to move for Ronaldo

News: Internazionale are planning a transfer bid for their former striker Ronaldo in a move which may have implications for Chelsea and Christian Vieri.

The Brazil international striker was sold to Real Madrid in an acrimonious £29.8 million deal in the summer of 2002 but he has made it plain that he would like one day to return to the San Siro.

Ronaldo's relationship with Real directors has deteriorated after he infuriated the Bernabeu hierarchy with his unannounced visit to Stamford Bridge last week. Though he denied any impropriety, sources at Real have been briefing journalists about their striker's excesses off the pitch.

For the first time, Inter have expressed an interest in taking him back.

"We are very interested in Ronaldo. We think he has always been the greatest," said the Italian club's technical director Marco Branca. "[A transfer] is a real possibility. He is the son of Inter."

The proclamation raises questions about the long-term future of the Italy international striker Vieri, who was fined yesterday for his failure to attend Monday's Italian Cup quarter-final against Udinese, a development which has alerted Chelsea.

They are understood to have seconded agents to relaunch their approach for Vieri and a summer transfer appears to be Chelsea's objective.

However, for the time being at least Inter are expressing their determination to keep him at San Siro.

"I think at the moment Christian Vieri is very, very far from moving," said Branca. "We are quietly concentrating on our championship and we won't consider any bids."

Meanwhile, Louis Saha's pronouncement on Tuesday night that his proposed move to Manchester United is on the verge of completion was met with outrage at Fulham last night.

The Fulham chairman, Mohamed Al Fayed, is indignant that the striker was quoted as declaring a £10 million transfer in process, subject to a medical.

"I have wanted to go to United in my mind for a month and now I know that I must prove I can play there," Saha said.

"This is a big step up in my career and I know that I will have to show I am good enough."

The London club insist that United have not submitted an improvement on their original £5.5 million offer and Saha's latest comments have only hardened Fulham's resolve in the affair.

"There has been no fresh bid, so no bid has been accepted and the player does not have permission to hold talks," a Fulham spokesman told the BBC. "This obviously means that suggestions that he will have a medical with Manchester United are nonsense."

Fayed considers the conduct of Old Trafford's negotiators to have been arrogant and disrespectful of his club, which holds a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Frenchman.

Clearly Saha has been seduced by the prospect of a move to the English champions but Fulham will express their determination not to lose him by responding to any further inquiry with an £18 million valuation. He was signed for £2.1 million from Metz in 2000.

The inflated valuation would certainly force Alex Ferguson to reconsider his targets, since it far exceeds his budget for winter purchases. The United manager is determined to procure during the current transfer window a striker who is not excluded from European competition.

After Ruud van Nistelrooy, Uruguayan Diego Forlan is the only other fit, experienced striker in United's squad, though Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is due to return to action this month after undergoing knee surgery in September.

Leeds's Mark Viduka remains a credible alternative for United, and one who would be available for a fraction of Fulham's demands.

Saha's destiny, however, appears eventually to lie away from Fulham.

Sources at the club report that Chelsea have made tentative inquiries regarding his availability and would be willing to allow him to remain with the Craven Cottage club until the season's end, a factor that would significantly reduce Fulham's asking price.

However, any bid from Chelsea would be dependent on their hopes of landing Vieri.