Madrid-based sports daily Marca claims that Barcelona will become favourites to prise Cristiano Ronaldo should Sandro Rosell be given the chance to run in a presidential election this year.


Manchester United have stated that the superstar is not for sale, but it is believed that there would be little the Premier League champions could do should he state his desire to leave.

At Camp Nou, the current regime face a vote of no confidence and if the club members support that in a forthcoming referendum then elections will be held.

Rosell, the former Blaugrana vice-president and Joan Laporta's running mate in 2003, is already considered to be a favourite should that happen and he could woo the voters with the promise of landing Ronaldo.

According to Marca, the man who wil certainly run in 2010 to be president of Barça, should elections not happen this year, has several aces up his sleeve.

One key factor is Rosell's close friendship with Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, who he knows well from various previous deals, including the one that took Deco to Camp Nou.

If he were to win this summer, with September a likely date, then the new man at the helm would look to install current Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari as coach at Barça when his contract expires with the national team.

Ronaldo is known to have a great relationship with the Brazilian and his influence in the deal could be huge because the pair work very well together at international level.

A third, and equally important element, is Nike. Rosell was the head of the sportswear company's operation in South America and has many contacts and connections still with the organisation.

They would push Ronaldo to join Barcelona and play in their kit, rather than to move to Real Madrid, who are sponsored by Adidas.

All this hypothetical, but Ramon Calderón must be hoping that Joan Laporta manages to retain his position at the Catalan giants to avoid having to take both Rosell and Sir Alex Ferguson.