David Gill, the Manchester United chief executive, says the club would be forced to consider Manchester City's proposed £135 million offer for Cristiano Ronaldo, but said he had taken the reports "with a pinch of salt".

Last week, Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, the businessman behind the takeover of City, said he would be prepared to make a world record bid for the Portugal winger during the January transfer window. Gill said, faced with a serious offer of that size, any club would have to consider it.

"It was an interesting comment, I think it's a fan's-type comment," he said. "It's interesting when Alex [Ferguson] mentioned the Dimitar Berbatov signing in advance that complaints were made to the Premier League.

"He mentioned Torres and Fabregas in the same article so I think we will treat that with a pinch of salt.

"I have never met the gentleman. That is a fantastic amount of money and would turn the industry upside down so I can't believe he is serious at those sorts of levels.

"Ultimately we would discuss any offer with Alex and the owners, as that sort of money is very large for one person.

"But we are not in the market to sell our best players."