Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has teased the prospect of “secret” transfer talks with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese forward was cornered by Madrid president Florentino Perez in front of gathered media at the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with PSG.
Ronaldo denied any truth in quotes attributed to Kicker in which he is claimed to have responded “why not?” when asked if he could leave Madrid, and Perez in turn gave him a playful slap on the cheek.
The 30-year-old was notably quiet as Real Madrid scraped a 1-0 victory over the Ligue 1 leaders, with whom he has been long been linked, and Al-Khelaifi stoked the Ronaldo rumours further by playing coy after his club’s defeat.
“Ronaldo has a contract at Real Madrid and we respect that,” the PSG chief told beIN Sports. “Although, if there were negotiations then they would be secret.”
He added with a smile: “However, right now we don’t have any negotiations with Ronaldo at all.”
PSG have won plaudits for their attacking performance against Rafa Benitez’s men, who were content with soaking up the pressure and relying on Nacho’s fortunate strike midway through the first half.
“We had a great match and proved that we’re a big club,” Al-Khelaifi added. “We deserved as draw at least and we played better than in the previous fixture [in which PSG drew 0-0 at home to Madrid].”
PSG require just the one win to secure a place in the last 16 of the Champions League alongside Real Madrid due to Shakhtar and Malmo sitting four points adrift with two games to go.
