Manchester Utd's chances of holding on to Cristiano Ronaldo took another blow yesterday with the confirmation that assistant manager, Carlos Queiroz, has accepted an offer to take over from Felipe Luiz Scolari coaching the Portuguese national side.

The former Real Madrid boss returns to a post he previously held between 1991-1993 before getting the sack in the wake of Portugal's failure to reach the US World Cup finals.

According to a statement on the Portugal Football Federation's website, Queiroz has signed a four-year contract and will be officially unveiled at a presentation in Lisbon next Wednesday.