According to The Sun, that most impeccably honest of tabloid newspapers, Cristiano Ronaldo will leave Manchester United for Real Madrid next summer.

The reason? Three little digits sent to the copyright office in Portugal last month.

The FIFA World Player of the Year’s agent, Jorge Mendes, had the tag ‘CR9′ trademarked on his client’s behalf in December – and that could spell the end of his career at Old Trafford, apparently.

Ronaldo currently operates under the ‘CR7′ brand, which are his initials combined with the shirt number he wears for both club and country.

But he would have to pick a different digit (or two, perhaps) if he moved to the Santiago Bernabeu, because legendary Blancos captain Raul already sports the No. 7 jersey.

Thus, the registration of ‘CR9′ – which Ronaldo can now use on merchandise, among other things – would seem to indicate that not only a change of number, but also a change of scene, is in the offing.

Furthermore, the current incumbent of the Merengues’ No. 9 shirt – Argentine striker Javier Saviola – is expected to leave the club shortly after failing to make any real impact since joining from Barcelona.

It is a tenous link on it’s own, certainly; but combined with the recent reports of Madrid’s preparations for a summer swoop, all signs suggest that the Spanish giants are finally getting somewhere in their pursuit of Ronaldo.

Mike Maguire, Goal.com

Lucio joined Bayern Munich from the fellow Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen in 2004, where he spent three seasons at. Since this time, the Brazilian has gone on to become one of the best defenders in the competition, and he is the current vice-captain of the successful German outfit.

Despite this however, the 30-year-old’s time at the club is nearing an end, as the Bavarians seem unwilling to discuss the future of his contract with him.

With this in mind, the World Champion of 2002 has declared that he would like to move elsewhere, with the hope of challenging himself further in his illustrious career.

“I had five fantastic years in Munich, but now I want to find a club that’s even more significant, because I still have so much time to experience new things in my career,” Lucio declared in an interview, as reported by Tuttomercatoweb.

“My contract expires here in 2010, and the club are yet to discuss any form of extension, so I think that I could leave on a mutual agreement, he added.

“I have tried to speak with the likes of AC Milan and Real Madrid in the past, but that was a while ago, so maybe they may be interested this time around,” he optimistically concluded.

Bayern have an already made replacement for Lucio, with that being the 19-year-old Brazilian defender Breno, who joined the club in December 2007 from Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Adrian Del Monte