Late in last month’s Champions League final against Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo dribbled up yet another blind alley and lost the ball. Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United’s irascible manager, rose from the dugout as if to berate his winger.

Then he sat down again, instead of wasting breath on a soon-to-be former employee. It looked as if Sir Alex had already said a silent goodbye to Ronaldo. United had calculated that Real Madrid were offering more – something like the world record fee of £80m (€95m, $130m) agreed yesterday – than he was worth.