The embers from the most popular transfer story of the summer are still glowing as the Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid rumours once again fill the back pages.
According to the Times, the Portuguese international has liaised with his agent Jorge Mendes about a possible move to the Primera Division holders and a verbal agreement has been struck with former Real president Pérez.
Reports in Spain state that Pérez will then use this promise in order to broker full support for his presidency election in 2010.
Cristiano Ronaldo's team-mate in the Portuguese national team, Pepe, is under no illusions as to where the future of the wing wizard lies, and is quoted by the Times as saying:
"He has shown he wants to come here with the statements he has made.
"We’ll see if he still desires to join us this summer," he added.
Crucially, there are no direct quotes attributed to either Ronaldo's agent Mendes or former Merengues' president Pérez.
And, despite being a reputable newspaper, the Times' track record of the Ronaldo stories has bordered on sensationalist claims.
On June 10 the broadsheet ran a story indicating that Real would table a world record £60 million bid in order to test Manchester United's resolve.
Then, on September 3, they published rumours stating that in light of Manchester City's new found wealth, the Abu Dhabi-based business group had freed up funds for the benchmark of all transfer splurges, as a £135 million bid for Ronaldo would follow offers for Spanish hit-man Fernando Torres and Arsenal lynchpin Cesc Fabregas.