"He is an objective, but we cannot do anything if his club do not want to part with him. Until this time we do not have anything with the player," he said in Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias.

Madrid president Ramon Calderon assured United this week that they were "not going to influence any player to break their contractual relationship", and Mijatovic has also insisted the Spanish giants would not go against the laws set out by football's governing bodies.

"At this moment Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best in the world, a fantastic player and it is clear that we are interested, but he has a team and never will we go against the rules of FIFA and UEFA," he added.