London, Apr 10 : Manchester United's wage bill has increased to a whopping sum of 121million pounds in 2008, an increase of 29 million pounds.

The 30 per cent rise comes after improved deals for ace players Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

United's Premier League and Champions League Double last season saw them splash 13.3 million pounds in bonuses, compared to 8.6 million pounds the previous year.

Chief executive David Gill is United's best-paid non-playing or non-coaching employee on 1.7 million pounds a year, The Sun reported.

The champions are still second in the big spenders table with Chelsea's bill at 148 million pounds - a rise of 12 per cent.

United boss Alex Ferguson admits Real Madrid's continued pursuit of Ronaldo has affected his performance on the field.

The build-up to the 2-2 Champions League quarterfinal draw with Porto was dominated by fresh reports of a Ronaldo move, something Ferguson termed as "pathetic".

But Ferguson says being honest with the player has kept his focus.

"He's lucky in the sense that people here can be straight with him and he appreciates that - he has responded to that."

Ferguson also praised Ronaldo for realising when he had overstepped the line in his tentative courting of Real.

"If it changes him as a person then you have a problem. Fortunately Ronaldo knows when he's gone too far and he draws back in after that," he added. (ANI)