The January 2008 transfer window hadn’t officially started when Real Madrid (predictably) fired off their first salvo, this time aiming for Manchester United. Having hit a stone wall in their chase of Milan’s Kaka (Milan refuse to sell, Kaka’s contract means he can’t budge for a long time), they’ve changed their tune and are now going after Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
It’s not going to happen – Manchester United have Ronaldo tied down till 2012 and the earliest that they would even consider contract negotiations would be in 2010. Not only that, but Cristiano Ronaldo is happy at Manchester United, has settled in well with his teammates and enjoys being one of the most important members of the Manchester United squad.
On the other hand, Real Madrid’s allure is enticing – especially if you’ve grown up admiring their accomplishments.
Without playing the bitching game (if Real Madrid play the game the hard way, Manchester United and other clubs need to learn to stand up and deal with it – counter fire with fire, in other words), one thing I’m certain of is that Real Madrid will be willing to pay 50m or so to bring in a galactico, a player that will not only sell shirts and woo the press but also win games. They say that the ‘galactico’ era is long gone but the galactico philosophy is the cornerstone of what makes Real Madrid so special. It is a club that players yearn to feature for, despite the tactics and despite the controversy at management level. Real Madrid has history, it is a special club and players will always want a shot at playing for it.
So Ronaldo likes Real Madrid and wouldn’t mind playing for them. His agent is the same cunt who tried to auction him off to Barcelona in 2006 before the World Cup and then after the World Cup went to Real Madrid with hat in hand looking for a deal. Manchester United handled the situation then, and they are sure to handle it now.
The winter rumours are just to start things off – a sterner test to Manchester United’s resolve will come in the summer of 2008, after Real Madrid have ended their La Liga and Champions League campaigns. Success is a powerful magnet when it comes to young players, and for Real Madrid to attract the type of players they are after, they need to prove that they are a serious force in Europe again. One wonders how the situation will change if Real Madrid were to win the Champions League and regain the La Liga title.
Manchester United have more important matters to consider this January, with the status of Wes Brown, Darren Fletcher and Louis Saha to consider. So, let’s move on from this Ronaldo-to-Real Madrid BS for now, ok?
“So, let’s move on from this Ronaldo-to-Real Madrid BS for now, ok?”
It’s a nice thought, but these rumours will persist throughout every transfer window until he does inevitably leave. I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to move to Spain at some point in his career, simple fact is he didn’t dream of playing for us as a kid and you can’t blame someone for wanting to for fill their dreams.
I can see a point in maybe two years time when it’s beneficial to both us and him that he leaves, he already shows glimpses of becoming too big for the club one day, and United have always had a great knack of moving players on before they become a detriment. It wont ever happen during a Jan transfer window and it wont happen this summer so the earliest in my mind is the summer after next.
But for now we’re just going to have to put up with these rumours in the same way we’re going to have to put up with the predictable ‘Berbatov to United’ links, also BS in my opinion.
It would be nice if Madrid had a bit more respect for other clubs and didn’t help bolster these rumours, but with the way Querioz has been acting in the last month or two, with the Veloso and Bosingwa talk, it’s hard to take the moral high ground.
I dont think Ronaldo will ever leave United. Well, he might not stay forever, but hes staying at least to he is 28-30! He will never become bigger than United.He will be a legend, a hero, the worlds best player, but NEVER bigger than United. He realises that. In three years time he will be at his best and Fergie wont sell him no matter what. Real Madrid said last season that they defo would get Ronny, they say it again. He wont leave, he loves it in Manchester. He has a dreamt of play in spain, but he never said when. So Real mad can Fuck off. They dont know how to handle situations like this. They think they are best in the world, but they ainst. They are a good team, but not best. They need to realise that no one can get everything they want. At least not Ronaldo
Strange how Madrid always use AS to tap-up their targets. It used to work a few years ago, but it doesn’t any more. Some people consider Madrid as the biggest and most famous club in the world, but Utd have been the THE biggest and definitely the most famous club in 10 of the last 12 years. Now they have a 333 million world-wide fan base and this month will announce record turn-over of more than £200m including net profit of about £75m. All these statistics work against Madrid.
Madrid can only prize Ronny away from Old Trafford if they bid in excess of £50m; coupled with Utd winning the premiership and the champions league this season.
I dont think c ronaldo will ever leave utd. my reasons for thinking this:
1) United are showing signs of winning the treble this season
2) They will dominate europe for the next couple of years guranteed
3) People are already saying that man u is the team to beat in europe(before it was either real madrid or barcelona)
4) the premier league is the new king of all football leagues
5) after this season the first £200,000 a week salary will be signed
6) c ronaldo is not the sort of person to think that he is bigger than the club that employs him
7) no player who thinks that their is a glimmer of hope that he will 1 day be bigger than his club will sign for united(remember stam, beckham, van nistelrooy etc)
8) he has already expressed that he wants to stay with united so he can repay his debt
9) he did admire and even dream of playing for united when he was growing up; maybe not as much as he did for barca or real madrid but he always had a soft spot for united
10) c ronaldo is the core of fergusons plans for his, utd’s and the world’s best team, letting him go will really put a spanner in the works
did i say more?
mistake in the last sentence of my last posting
not ‘did i say more’ but ‘need i say more’
I agree with Nick’s comment that nothing much is likely to happen until summer 2009 at the very earliest (and possibly not until the 2010 World Cup). This is just the usual tittle-ttatle from the press during transfer window season rather than any kind of serious attemt at a tap-up by Real Madrid (I suspect they, like all other big clubs with money, use less public and more subtle methods when they are really serious about a player)
Whether or note CR ever wants to leave United for a move away from England probably depends more on how settled he becomes at Manchester on a personal as well as a sporting level.
I think this comment by Fitz sums it up pretty well:
“Madrid can only prize Ronny away from Old Trafford if they bid in excess of £50m; coupled with Utd winning the premiership and the champions league this season.”
I’d hate to see him go, but I suspect he will in about 2 years time. By then, Nani should be settled in the team.
I dont think c ronaldo will ever leave utd. my reasons for thinking this:
1) United are showing signs of winning the treble this season
2) They will dominate europe for the next couple of years guranteed
3) People are already saying that man u is the team to beat in europe(before it was either real madrid or barcelona)
4) the premier league is the new king of all football leagues
——————————————————-
1) Dominate Europe? No one dominates European Competition and history has shown it hasn’t been done since the 1980’s where money was not a big influence back then, and even with Ronaldo in form the United team is the same team which got thumped by a Milan team who are now 4 points from the relegation zone in Serie A
2) Team to beat is not a real indicator of who will win Europe. And Barcelona??? This isn’t Football Manager where the best players win every cup. United and Barcelona were favourites last season to make the final but United lost in their only real testing game and Barcelona choked at home
3) Premier League maybe popular BUT for technical and tactical best you go to Italy and Spain. As much as we can go on about the best league the most popular league is the premier league because it attracts plenty of asia, africa and american fans whose football needs are at a very low standard. they want it fast and physical
being a ronaldo supporter since the day he came on to the pitch with that no 7 shirt, it is difficult for me to really accept that the guy would really leave
YES he would… but when is the question….
i think it is well known that he wants to play in Spain at some point but the only way i see ron completing his career at OT is if real and barca both have a huge lean period when ron is about 30 and Fergie decides to retire.
As long as fergie is at united, ron wont leave until fergie wants him to , (not before ron’s 30 anyway) and i think by that time this united team (along with the arsenal kids unfortunately) would be the barca and real of today so the future is very uncertain…
ron’s brining up shows that the guy has morals and fergie loves that in a player, he might be a poster boy but ron’s first ambition is to work hard and train (remember reading umpteen articles saying how much extra work ronnie puts in, first on the pitch and last off it) so the chances of a dispute are very few…
So as far as i am concerned the real talk is true BS as fergie is not a fool to loose the future world player for money (he values the Champs league and believes roo-ron-tevez are as good as best-law-charlton)…
So fellow fans these rumours will exist for 7-8 years but i am not concerned.. roonnie is a united player and will stay that till we win the champs leadue twice or thrice with this team.. thats the target anyways….
and i would also like to add that people who think that ronnie loves spain for their past successes in the champs league (as he had said before)i think fergie will use it to keep ronnie at united by driving him to be able be the founder of that kind of success with man utd.
SAF is smart … he has nani as a back up for ronaldo… rooney and tevez as complements and vidic and ferdinand rock solid at the back…. evra is killing it and wes browns a fuck up …. but i think they’ll find a good rb till he’s gone… the team can do well with or without ronaldo… yes ronaldo is important … but it would be interesting to see if united do a swap deal in 2-3 years time … and with SAF spotting young talent from lisbon and elsewhere… there’s not much to worry…
real madrid are a bunch of motherfuckers…. who think that money is everything…. they can go and suck cock. they have a crappy side which is good for the diminishing standards in spain but not good enough for europe…. manutd however may see the trough of this fairytale as and when SAF is done…
i knew ronaldo was never gonna go
even do c.ronaldo doesnt want to go real madrid are even power