Real Madrid Transfer News: Latest on Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale Rumours

Real Madrid superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are reportedly no longer targets for Manchester United.

According to Samuel Luckhurst in the Manchester Evening News, the Red Devils have now decided, after long holding out hope of signing either Ronaldo or Bale from Real, that the Los Blancos pair and Barcelona star Neymar are not "the way forward" for them.

It has seemed unlikely for some time that Real would be willing to let either Ronaldo or Bale leave the Santiago Bernabeu for United—the pair scored 55 LaLiga goals between them in 2015-16, per WhoScored.com.

They have taken little time to get back in the goals in 2016-17, combing for the opener in Ronaldo's first LaLiga match back from injury against Osasuna on Saturday, per Spanish football writer Dermot Corrigan:

Recent news that both Ronaldo, 31, and Bale, 27, are on the verge of penning new contracts with Real further dented United's chances of snapping up either player anytime soon, per the Mirror's Ed Malyon.

And United have now reportedly finally admitted defeat in their pursuit of Real's superlative duo following the Madrid giants' failure to overturn their FIFA-imposed two-window transfer ban, per the Mirror's Simon Mullock.

If it seemed unlikely Real would be willing to sell either Bale or Ronaldo before, it would surely be almost impossible to tempt the LaLiga club into letting one of them go when they could not bring in a replacement.

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It almost seemed slightly more of a possibility that United could repurchase Ronaldo as Real could still have demanded a huge fee for him despite him being in his 30s, and club president Florentino Perez was reported to be wanting rid of him, per Sport.

However, after the Portuguese played a key role in Real winning a second UEFA Champions League title in three seasons in 2015-16, it would be madness for Los Blancos to let their key player leave, especially with the imposition of the transfer ban.

Bale also previously looked a viable target for United when he was taking undue criticism from many of the Real fans, per James Whaling in the Mirror.

After proving his critics wrong last season with his own major contribution to the Champions League win, he looks more comfortable than ever at Madrid.

Per Malyon, he is also "set to replace [Ronaldo] as the club's leading light" this season and is primed to commit himself to Real until 2021. 

Real's aim in 2016-17 will be to successfully defend their Champions League title and win LaLiga again for the first time since 2012.

Ronaldo and Bale will both have big roles to play in achieving those goals, and there now need be no concerns at all at Real that either star will be distracted by links to United.