The Times:
Ruud van Nistelrooy returned to pre-season training with Manchester United yesterday, but any reunion with Sir Alex Ferguson is likely to be brief after Bayern Munich and Real Madrid indicated last night that they are prepared to raise their offers for the Holland forward.
United expect to receive two new offers for Van Nistelrooy within the next 24 hours and are hopeful of agreeing a fee in the region of £14 million for the 30-year-old. That would give Ferguson, the United manager, a degree of flexibility in his bid to replace Van Nistelrooy with Fernando Torres, but there are fears at Old Trafford that the Spain forward will today state his desire to stay with Atlético Madrid for another 12 months.
Securing an acceptable fee for Van Nistelrooy, though, has become a critical part of the summer equation for Ferguson, who has not spoken to the forward since banishing him from the squad for United's final Barclays Premiership game on May 7.
Their working relationship appears unsustainable, particularly since Ferguson claimed that the forward's "heart is not in it" after his transfer request, but a confrontation was avoided yesterday, with the manager not at the training ground after staying an extra night in South Africa at the end of the team's pre-season tour.
Player and manager are scheduled to come face to face today, but United are confident that a deal will soon be struck to the satisfaction of all parties. Their £15 million valuation of the player has proved beyond both Real and Bayern to date, but the German club are understood to have made a bid in the region of £11.6 million and their president, Franz Beckenbauer, suggested yesterday that another offer was likely.
Reuters:
Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer said on Monday the Bundesliga champions had a good chance of signing Netherlands striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.
"There is still a gap of some five million euros between us and Manchester United," Beckenbauer was quoted as saying by the SID sports news agency.
"Yet, (the) chances are pretty good."
The Mirror:
Bayern Munich are confident they will land Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for £13.5million within the next 24 hours.
The German club have moved ahead of Real Madrid in the race to land the out-of-favour striker and are hopeful of sealing a deal. Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer admitted the club were still around £3m short of United's asking price, but remained confident of a deal.
"We are around £3m away from Manchester United's valuation, but the chances are still high," said Beckenbauer.
"But if it does work out, I could imagine us giving Roy Makaay or Claudio Pizarro to another club."