Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United transfer would cost £200million in fee and wages

Manchester, England: Manchester United will have to fork out a staggering £200million to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back home.

And that has seen the rest of Europe’s top clubs decide the Real Madrid star – who turns 30 in February – is too expensive to consider.

Real president Florentino Perez looks likely to cash in on World Player of the Year Ronaldo next summer.

And United have been left with a clear run to re-sign their former No.7 after their major rivals collectively balked at the fee and wages sought by Real and Ronaldo’s representatives.

Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are all out of the running to sign Ronaldo, leaving the way clear for United to move for him if they decide the astronomical figures stack up.

Ronaldo is currently on £380,000 a week and would command the same salary should he leave Real, who in turn will accept a minimum fee of £60m for their prized asset.

With image-rights payments, loyalty bonuses paid out over the full length of his contract and other incentives, he could pocket a further £60m.

Real paid the Old Trafford giants a then-world record fee of £80m for Ronaldo in 2009.

With the Portuguese forward commanding a four-year deal, a yearly wage of £19.76m over that period - on top of the required transfer fee - would set United back a whopping £139.04m.

But United’s huge commercial wealth, epitomised by their world-record £750m, 10-year kit deal with Adidas, means they do have the financial clout to afford such a mega deal.

Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, made it clear in the summer of 2013 that his client felt unloved at Real and was willing to move, with United tempted by the prospect of a reunion.

But the star’s posturing – which was seen largely as a ploy by Mendes to earn him a lucrative new deal - eventually forced Real to hand the player a five-year contract which runs to 2018.

Although United had no chance of signing Ronaldo in 2013 with David Moyes in charge, the landscape has since changed, with the appointment of Louis van Gaal as manager.

With United having lavished £150m on stellar names this summer, including his former Real team-mate Angel Di Maria, the prospect of a return is more appealing to Ronaldo.

Former Real president Ramon Calderon last week claimed the 29-year-old had become disillusioned with the reigning European champions, in particular with their revolving door transfer policy.

Ronaldo was said to have been dismayed by the decisions to sell Di Maria and Xabi Alonso, with Calderon suggesting the world’s best player would be ready to leave Madrid next summer.

Van Gaal confirmed his interest in Ronaldo last week, but said he felt Real would be unwilling to sell a player who this week bagged his 25th hat-trick since moving to Spain to give him 264 goals in 254 games for them.

Yet the Bernabeu giants have debts of around £400m and, despite Ronaldo’s standing, Perez knows next summer will be their last chance to cash in on him for a sizeable fee.

United must now decide whether the exorbitant outlay it would take to bring their prodigal son back home is worth it, or whether the potential deal is does not make financial sense - with no resale value for a Ronaldo in his mid-30s.

Meanwhile, Van Gaal has admitted the United job has become the biggest challenge he has faced in football.

The Dutchman has nine players injured and one suspended ahead of Saturday’s visit of West Ham. That comes on the back of United’s crushing 5-3 defeat at newly-promoted Leicester last Sunday, which consigned them to their worst start in Premier League history.

Against that backdrop - his three centre-backs Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling are all out injured - Van Gaal admitted the United job was proving to be his toughest test.

Asked it it was his biggest challenge, Van Gaal said: “At this moment maybe, but you have to see in one year, not one week, when we have nine injuries and one suspension.

“This is a club in transition and you don’t know in advance what the difficult moments are, you have to see. We should have had a win when we were 3-1 ahead at Leicester after 60 minutes. We would have been two points off second position in the table.