Madrid: Real Madrid’s hopes of finding new clubs for Ronaldo and Ivan Helguera before Thursday's transfer deadline appear to have been dashed.

Madrid were reportedly aiming to swap Ronaldo for Inter Milan striker Adriano in a move which would take him to the club he represented from 1997-2002, and defender Helguera was to join Valencia in return for Argentina’s Roberto Ayala.

However, the Italian deadline of 1700 GMT for registering new players passed with Ronaldo remaining a Madrid player, the website of a Spanish sports daily said.

Inter owner Massimo Moratti said earlier that he didn’t believe the deal would go through as neither club was making a concerted effort.

Meanwhile, Helguera’s possible move was scrapped when Valencia said that Ayala would stay with the club at least until he sees out the final year of his contract.

The defender , who had been at odds with Valencia due to their failure to offer him a new contract, was shown on the club’s website warmly shaking the hand of president Juan Soler.

(AP)