Gudang Starlounge

Perhaps it's his appreciation for the colour pink or his newly acquired millions, but whatever the case it seems Paris Hilton is convinced she's found a soul mate in Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The heiress, who looked to be suffering a sore head as she stepped out in white-rimmed white sunglasses in Los Angeles today, is telling friends the pair are an item after their rendezvous in the earlier hours of Thursday morning.

She was busy texting furiously as she emerged in Hollywood while Ronaldo was seen showing phone messages to his cousins as he lounged around the pool at his Beverly Hills hotel, prompting speculation the two were contacting each other.

Morning after the night before: Paris Hilton was busy sending text messages today while Ronaldo headed down to relax by the pool of his Beverly Hills hotel

The 28-year-old annoucned the pair were an item to her inner circle, saying: 'He's hot, a real athlete - and the chemistry between us was electric.

'Cristiano's much better than my ex. He was nothing but a low-paid minor league baseball player.'

Just whether the Portuguese playboy, who has been celebrating news that he has been snapped up by Real Madrid for £80 million, is quite so keen remains to be seen.

Getting to know you: Paris Hilton cuddles up to Cristiano Ronaldo on a sofa in MyHouse in Hollywood in the early hours of Thursday morning

Intimate: Paris and Ronaldo certainly looked at ease in each other's company

Ronaldo, 24, who is single, certainly seemed interested as he 'hung out' with the newly-single hotel heiress and her younger sister Nicky at the MyHouse nightclub on Wednesday night.

The trio then carried on partying back at Nicky's plush home in West Hollywood.

Cheers to us: The pair sipped on Cristal as they became acquainted

Several celebrity websites in America claim the pair were intimately kissing.

One witness wrote: '[She was] hot and heavy, making out with Cristiano at his table.'

Another reported: 'They were talking to one another and seemed extremely friendly.'

Paris is said to have first made a play for the star this time last year at Hollywood club Villa, but he rejected her advances.

'She was determined to get her man this time. And what Paris wants, Paris gets,' a friend told The Sun. 'She has been telling anyone who will listen that Ronaldo is the hottest thing she has ever seen.'

Why so shy? Ronaldo ducks as he enters Nicky Hilton's West Hollwood home

A nightclub source saying: 'As soon as he saw Paris, Cristiano kept staring at her and looking her up and down.

'He went over to her table to say hi - and appeared to be smitten. The two were flirting and laughing together all night. It was as if no woman but Paris existed in the club.

'Cristiano told Paris all about his new deal with Real Madrid and they toasted his massive new pay packet with Cristal champagne.'

Ronaldo is said to have run up a bar bill of more than £15,000.

They left at 3am going ostentatiously in separate directions, his entourage in a stretch Hummer and then the Hiltons in a people carrier, but not before Paris was overheard giving directions to someone on her mobile.

Ronaldo then arrived at her home alone in a taxi and hurried quickly inside, before leaving two hours later at 5am.

Single again: Paris started the evening enjoying a 'girl's night out' with sister Nicky at Nobu before moving on to MyHouse

The late-night liaison came just hours after Paris dumped boyfriend Doug, who appeared on reality TV show The Hills, after they got into an argument at the Dark Room club.

A cutting statement released by Doug's spokesperson read: 'Doug refuses to take part of this ridiculous media circus. He wishes Paris and all of her future boyfriends the best of luck.'

Their split came just four days after the couple celebrated their six month anniversary in Chicago.

If Ronaldo is the newest man in Paris's life, he is just the latest in a string of high-profile boyfriends in her life.

Paris has previously been engaged to model Jason Shaw and Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson who once famously said of Spanish giants Real Madrid that he would not 'sell that mob a virus', had found 80 million very good reasons to change his mind.

The £80million the Premier League champions will soon bank will let Ferguson strengthen his squad as he prepares for the next season.



But the transfer begged an important question over how on earth the Spanish club could afford to buy Ronaldo and pay him an estimated £200,000 a week in wages.

Their move came just days after they secured the services of Brazilian midfield star Kaka for £59million in a six-year deal.

Yet Real Madrid do not have a billionaire Roman Abramovich-style owner like Chelsea. Instead, what they do have is one of the biggest footballing brand names in the world.

Allied to sponsorship by sports outfitter Adidas, they also have an image rights deal valued at more than £700 million.

Intriguingly Ronaldo is recently reported to have signed a five-year sponsorship deal worth £25million with Nike - but he will now be pulling on a Real Madrid shirt bearing the name of rivals Adidas.

Both Nike and Adidas will - according to insiders - 'just have to live with the situation'.

But it is with Real Madrid's domestic TV contract that the big money now lies.

Real Madrid receive around £122 million a season from a seven-year deal with MediaPro for their domestic TV rights which allows their games to be shown to a wider audience.

Hundreds of millions of devoted fans around the world follow them. They are financially huge. Only one team in the world can beat that - yes, you guessed, Manchester United.