Brian McClair has backed Manchester United's decision to sell Cristiano Ronaldo.

McCLAIR BACKS SALE OF RONALDO

By Simon Stone, PA Sport Chief Football Writer

The Red Devils youth director has been around Old Trafford for long enough to know there is unlikely to be a catastrophic fall from grace as a result of Ronaldo's exit.

While some pundits believe Ronaldo's £80million departure for Real Madrid, plus Carlos Tevez's decision to quit United after two productive seasons on a lease agreement with his adviser Kia Joorabchian, McClair is adopting a more pragmatic view.

"Manchester United have been here before," said McClair on his Championship Manager blog.

"Look back at the club's history.

"George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham have departed United in some shape or form and the club has continued to thrive and, in certain cases, gone on to bigger and better things.

"A club as big as United is going to have big players and players move on. That is a fact of football life.

"No one player is irreplaceable. Put it another way, nobody is bigger than the club. Selling Ronaldo to Real Madrid is good business."

While few supporters will lament the loss of Ronaldo's histrionics and many believe Wayne Rooney is more than capable of being the fulcrum of a new-look team, they will expect Sir Alex Ferguson to bring in some quality reinforcements with the world record fee Ronaldo commanded.

Antonio Valencia is due to let Wigan know at the end of this week whether he would prefer to join United or Real Madrid.

However, it already appears Franck Ribery's heart is set on the Bernabeu. Certainly the £40million-rated star would prefer to join the growing throng at Real than leave Bayern Munich for Barcelona, while noises coming out of Lyon continue to hint at Karim Benzema remaining in France for another season.

Reports in Spain have suggested Ferguson is ready to make a move for Sergio Aguero, who has forged such an impressive partnership with Diego Forlan at Atletico Madrid.

However, the success Forlan has enjoyed in La Liga compared to the lamentable time he endured at United, is a reminder of how tough South American strikers can find it in the Premier League, which must leave a sizeable question mark against the Argentina star.