RONALDO'S TON IT!

CRISTIANO RONALDO and Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated a double landmark in style.

But then the United boss poured cold water on his Portuguese star's hopes of a new £150,000-a-week deal.

Fergie's golden anniversary in the game was capped with the kind of thrilling victory that has been the hallmark of his Old Trafford reign.

And the first of Ronaldo's two goals saw him notch his century of goals for the club.

Yet if he thought he was about to receive the freedom of Manchester from his boss, he was sadly mistaken.

Because Ferguson - who began his playing career at Queen's Park exactly 50 years ago - insists United will not contemplate a contract extension for Ronaldo, despite agent Jorge Mendes claiming his man deserved an improvement on his current £120,000-a-week salary.

Ferguson had appeared to support Ronaldo's desire to sit down with the Old Trafford hierarchy and talk new terms.

But after discussions with David Gill, Fergie has now accepted it would be unhealthy to wreck United's pay structure while Ronaldo still has over three years left on his contract.

Mendes arrived in Manchester last week indicating he wanted to open talks with United over a pay rise, believed to be in the region of an extra £30,000 a week. Fergie, though, is adamant no such talks are planned and suggested the player should be happy at already being United's top earner.

He said: "I don't know what other clubs pay their players, but he (Ronaldo) is very well paid by us and quite rightly so.

Amounts

"He deserves to be paid tremendous amounts.

"All the players that are well paid deserve it because they are great players but, at the moment, Ronaldo has 3½ years left on his contract and we are happy with that."

Ferguson also insisted that agent Mendes was not in the north-west last week for talks with the club.

He added: "There is nothing I can tell you about that because I didn't even know Jorge was over.

"He comes across quite a lot to see Anderson, Nani, Ronaldo and Manucho to sort out a lot of things - maybe their living accommodation or commercial issues. It could be a lot of things."

The lack of a new deal could re-open the saga of Real Madrid's interest in Ronaldo, which appeared to have died a death after suggestions that the winger would be signing a new contract.

Ronaldo publicly confirmed his commitment to United last month but doubts still exist over his long-term future at Old Trafford.

He continues to send mixed messages to the Portuguese media and recently hinted that he relished the prospect of a new challenge in his career.

Ronaldo said: "Nobody knows the future. I feel good where I am, I'm happy at United but sometimes you need new challenges, fresh things for your mind and for your career.

"It's true that special players feed speculation. If you're good everyone wants you. It's not just me, there's Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Frank Lampard.

"If you have a good season they speak well of you and then new challenges can arise. That's normal.

"In football everything is possible and sometimes there's a need to change. It's something basic in people's lives."

Not that Ferguson seemed too concerned about opening up the Ronaldo debate.

He was too busy basking in the glory of another emphatic win which helped banish some of the gloom from last week's defeat at the Emirates.

And he paid tribute to Ronaldo, the man whose two goals bookended the win.

Fergie said: "The scoreline was fantastic and there was some great football and some great performances.

"Cristiano's got 101 goals in 253 games. That's some ratio - fantastic.

"He is back well on song. His speeed is back, his acceleration is magnificent and he's scored his first goals from free-kicks this season.

"We've been waiting for that to happen and today we saw the real power of him.

"He does practise - that's the secret for him. Today he was on top form. He's got nine goals but I thought he was in double figures - and he soon will be!"

There were also words of praise for record £30.75million signing Dimitar Berbatov and 17-year-old Danny Welbeck, whose first goal for the club illuminated Old Trafford on his league debut.

Fergie added: "I said when we signed Berba that he would get over 20 goals a season and I've had a good bet on that.

"And young Danny Welbeck scoring a goal like that! He will remember that for the rest of his life.

"But he will keep his feet on the ground. He is an intelligent lad and there will be a few lads in the dressing room knocking him down.

Fantastic

"We finished with a very young team. We have some fantastic young players but we we' ll take our time with them and be patient them and I'm sure they will be okay."

A jubilant Welbeck could barely contain his joy.

"It was a dream, especially as a lad coming from Manchester and in front of the Stretford End," he said.

"Everybody in my family was here today to see it, so it was extra special.

"I have thought about scoring that first goal a lot, ever since I have been playing football and there's no better feeling to see it go in. It was just great.

"I have already watched it a few times and it definitely makes you hungry for more.

"To play with world-class players week in and week out, there's no better experience that that and I will just try to learn as much as I can.

"It was a great game for me and some of the other young lads. A few of us got a chance out there today.

"I will try and take it in my stride and keep working hard."