United spurned the advances of the Spanish club last summer despite Ronaldo declaring he wanted to move to Madrid.

But following a new world record offer and a fresh suggestion from the 24-year-old wideman that he wanted to move to Spain, United have decided to cash in on the current World and European player of the year.

Real’s £80million offer comes just days after they completed a £59million swoop on AC Milan for Kaka.

Madrid president Florentino Perez had openly turned his attention to

The Toffees had made a dream start when Louis Saha put them ahead after just 25 seconds – the quickest goal in Cup final history.

But Chelsea came back strongly and equalised through Didier Drogba’s header before Lampard fired home the winner from 25 yards with 18 minutes left.

The margin of victory should have been greater as TV replays showed that Florent Malouda’s spectacular strike moments later had crossed the line after bouncing down off the bar, but referee Howard Webb did not give the goal.

In the end it made no difference to Chelsea, or Hiddink, who deservedly has a trophy to show for the impressive work he has done at Stamford Bridge as he returns to his job with Russia.

Victory at a sweltering Wembley brings to an end the Dutchman’s brief love affair with the Blues, which began when he watched from the stands as they beat Watford in the fifth round on Valentine’s Day.

And his side again demonstrated the patience and power he has instilled them as they fought back to overhaul a dogged Everton side that took the lead with a terrific early strike.

Steven Pienaar’s cross was only half-cleared by Jon Mikel Obi and Marouane Fellaini headed down for Louis Saha to smash the ball past Petr Cech.

 606: DEBATE
Lamps with the winner and his usual 20th of the season. WELL DONE YOU MIGHTY BLUES. OLE OLE OLE OLE

Drogba’s_sniper
The goal clearly rattled Chelsea and their back-four looked nervous whenever the ball came near them immediately afterwards.

But the complexion of the game changed as soon as Hiddink’s side settled and began coming forward themselves, using the width offered by Nicolas Anelka and, in particular, Malouda on the left.

Everton right-back Tony Hibbert was given an early yellow card for clipping Malouda’s heels, and he spent the rest of the half trying to keep up with the Frenchman, mostly unsuccessfully.

Hibbert was not the only player at fault – he should have received more support from Leon Osman on that flank – but the amount of space they were leaving invited trouble, and Chelsea took full advantage to equalise after 21 minutes.

Malouda, who was completely unmarked, ran on to Lampard’s pass and, from his inviting cross, Drogba rose above Joleon Lescott to power home his header.

By now, Hiddink’s side were completely on top, with the Toffees unable to keep hold of the ball, let alone use it constructively.

Everton did at least tighten up at the back, with the exception of the hapless Hibbert who was caught out time and time again before the break.

The closest Chelsea came to punishing him further came when a deflected pass span into Cole’s path, but the England defender sliced his shot well wide.

 
Saha’s opening goal, after 25 seconds, is the fastest in FA Cup final history
Unsurprisingly, Toffees boss David Moyes made changes at the break – hauling off Hibbert for Lars Jacobsen and moving Tim Cahill further forward in an attempt to wrestle back the initiative.

Even after his reshuffle, Chelsea were still enjoying the lions share of possession and Anelka should have done better when he lobbed over after running clear, but Everton did threaten too.

They showed their intent when from a short free-kick, Leighton Baines whipped the ball into the Chelsea area and Saha’s header flew only inches over the bar.

Indeed, the game was still wide open until Lampard’s goal on 72 minutes.

The England midfielder collected Michael Ballack’s pass, turned inside Phil Neville, and, despite losing his footing, let fly with a tremendous strike that was still rising as it flew into the top corner.

Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard got a hand to the ball but could not stop it hitting the net – and from there, there was no way back for Everton.

Malouda could have sealed victory when Lampard slid him through but lashed the ball over, then was wrongly denied after his long-range shot hit the woodwork and bounced in.

But, despite that let-off, Everton could not find a response and Chelsea remained in control of the match in the closing stages to win the Cup for a fifth time and give Hiddink a fairytale finish.

——————————————————————————–

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Ashley Cole, Essien (Ballack 61), Mikel, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba, Malouda.
Subs Not Used: Hilario, Ivanovic, Di Santo, Kalou, Belletti, Mancienne.

Booked: Mikel, Lampard.

Goals: Drogba 21, Lampard 72.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert (Jacobsen 46), Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Osman (Gosling 82), Neville, Pienaar, Cahill, Fellaini, Saha (Vaughan 77).
Subs Not Used: Nash, Castillo, Rodwell, Baxter.

Booked: Hibbert, Neville, Baines.

Goals: Saha 1.

Att: 89,391

Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).

Goals from star forwards Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi gave the Catalans a deserved victory and denied United from becoming the first team to retain the title since the European Cup became the Champions League in 1993.

It gave the Spaniards a unique treble having already won their domestic league and cup and meant they repeated a feat United achieved in 1999, which Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson had then claimed would never be matched.

It crowned a marvellous debut season for his Barcelona counterpart Pep Guardiola, who at 38 becomes the youngest coach to take European club football’s greatest prize.

Ashley was at Villa Park on Sunday to watch Newcastle surrender their 16-year membership of the Premier League thanks to an own goal from Damien Duff.

Now he will meet with Shearer this week to discover whether the former Newcastle striker is willing to take the manager’s job full-time.

Shearer admits he has been bitten by the managerial bug and would like to remain at the helm to try to regain Premier League status at the first attempt next season.

But he has seen so many things wrong at the club in the past few months, and for long periods before that, that he fears the club could implode completely, like Leeds who are now in League One, unless major changes are made.

“There are a million things wrong with this club that need to be sorted out. I know people will make comparisons with Leeds United and I understand that. The people who are in charge have to decide what they want to do and what direction they want the club to go,” Shearer said.

“I have my own ideas on what needs to be done and I can see why people say management is addictive. There has to be a major overhaul and players need to go out and players need to come in. The football club has to decide where it wants to go from here.”

Shearer is expected to meet with Ashley in the next 48 hours and in the aftermath of the defeat at Villa Park he refused to elaborate on his future.

“I know everyone wants to know what I am going to do. You won’t believe me when I say I have not had time to really think about it,” he said.

“But we need to have the meeting sooner rather than later and make decisions. It does not take a genius to see what is wrong with the club.

“Those guys have some major decisions to make. There are millions of questions to be answered. I will give them my thoughts but they might not ask me to be the manager.”

Shearer admits he was shocked at the state of disrepair he found the club in when he took over eight games ago and he feels certain members of the playing staff have let the club down.

He certainly felt short-changed by the lack of passion and desire at Villa Park.

“I am not too sure everyone has played to their maximum. I have told them all that they can look for all the excuses they like. They might not think I have been good enough, Mike Ashley has not been good enough, or Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear and Chris Houghton, but it is what is in the dressing room that has not been good enough,” added Shearer.

“There are huge problems at Newcastle. It has been going on for several seasons. The worst three teams get relegated and unfortunately for me Newcastle are one of them.

“I am hurting and I am raw inside right now. We have let down our fantastic supporters and there are a hell of a lot of things that have gone wrong.”

Villa boss Martin O’Neill believes the Premier League will be a poorer place without Newcastle, but backed Shearer to stay at the club, saying: “I think it would be great if he stays.

“It would be great for Newcastle and it would be really good for the game. He could turn into a really top class manager. He is like Roy Keane, he can be anything that he wants to be.”