Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, of Real Madrid, will be the next footballer to model underwear for Emporio Armani, in their spring-summer 2010 collection, replacing AC Milan and England footballer David Beckham, Italian sports daily La Gazetta dello Sport announced on Friday.

Originally, Armani chose "Shevchenko, then Kaká, both alluring, both footballers, both Milan players - and both fully dressed," said the paper.

When it came to modelling its line of underwear, Armani went for Beckham, on loan to Milan since 2008 and "the most beautiful of them all," who posed nude, apart from a pair of the Italian fashion house''s boxers. He was also joined by his wife Victoria: both "very sensual," says the daily.

On Friday, the "most beautiful" was traded in for "another delight with the ball," Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid''s 24-year-old star, the most expensive signing in history and "the most sought after man on the planet" of which his "repeated conquests and chronicles of his steamy nights" are proof, it surmises,

The news, which was leaked by sources from both the football and fashion worlds, has still not been made official. According to La Gazzeta, Ronaldo will feature on advertising billboards for Armani''s younger clothes section in all of Europe''s major cities as of February next year.

The advertising campaign will most likely take place in Milan, it adds, stressing that this is the first time Giorgio Armani has chosen a footballer that doesn''t play for AC.

"This time it''s the turn of the international media''s favourite footballer; one that plays for Real Madrid, drinks champagne with Paris Hilton in Los Angeles and sails his boat around the Mediterranean," concludes La Gazzeta.