Sir Alex Ferguson has rubbished speculation linking Cristiano Ronaldo with a shock move to Spanish champions Real Madrid. Ferguson, whose team face Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, has seen the Portuguese winger constantly linked with moves to Real or Barcelona in recent seasons.

The 22-year-old fuelled the speculation following the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ by admitting he wanted to play in La Liga at some stage in his career, but United fought off huge interest from Real and Barca to persuade the youngster to commit himself to a new five-year contract last year.

However, renewed speculation has suggested that Ronaldo could be the subject of a world-record £75 million bid from Real, although Ferguson insists that the talk is no different to what he has come to expect. "I anticipated this," said the Scottish manager.

"It happens every year in the New Year and you can expect some sort of speculation. The thing with this is, Real are supposed to have spoken to us and (chief executive) David Gill is supposed to have spoken to them, but that's just a lie.

"We've never spoken to them and they have never spoken to us. It's mischievous to the best part, but I just dismiss it because it is nonsense.

"Who wouldn't be interested in Ronaldo? That's why we bought him, but it's nonsense. He has maybe said he wants to play in Spain one day, but does that include Real Madrid or Barcelona?"

Fan power
Ferguson has been linked with big money transfers himself, with Tottenham Hotspur striker Dimitar Berbatov and Bolton Wanderers' Nicolas Anelka said to be top of his shopping list. But the Scot laughed off talk of any major signings coming to Old Trafford during the January window.

"It is the old game they play," Ferguson said. "Everyone's trying to play a game, trying to create speculation about who you are going to buy and of course we would have to be buying someone wouldn't we. It is the name of the game for Manchester United."

Wayne Rooney is set to return from illness at Villa in place of Carlos Tevez, whose badly bruised ankle is set to force him out of the testing cup tie. But having criticised the backing of the United fans during the New Year's Day victory against Birmingham City at Old Trafford, Ferguson insists that the large following set to see his team at Villa Park will show the support lacking earlier this week.

"We are taking 7,500 fans down to Villa, so the support will be fantastic and they are always good in these situations," he continued. "We have played so many semi-finals at Villa, we can hopefully capture that atmosphere.

"They just had a bad day on Tuesday. It was quiet, it was New Year's Day, but they have been responsible for a lot of our successes. When the chips were down, they were always there.

"Last year, the Blackburn game was a turning point in the league. We were 1-0 down and ended up winning, but the fans carried us over the line, which is what we want."