Following last year’s Champions League Final, Cristiano Ronaldo was asked if he was going to stay at Manchester United – the answer was a sincere yet somewhat unconvincing “yes”. For the next few weeks however, the talk of his move away was calmed and Manchester United fans could bask in their third European Cup glory.
An insight into the future?
Week’s later reports came out that he was to sign for Real Madrid – as rumoured for long durations of the 07/08 season. Ronaldo had re-evaluated his options and Spain’s capital now became his preference. At the age of 22 he’d already won every major club and individual honour with Manchester United – it was job done and new challenges awaited as well as the inevitable crowning of Ballon d’Or. It had always been Ronaldo’s (and his mum’s) dream to play for Real – this seemed as good a time as ever.
But then there’s Manchester United – his employer. Some people still claimed that Ronaldo owed it to United to stick around; to give the team a chance to win the Champions League two times in a row – something that’s not been achieved in it’s new format. There was also the factor that Ferguson didn’t have time to bring in a replacement. It’s arguable that there is no replacement for Ronaldo, but Ferguson has replaced players in the past, and he’s done it over time and has done it his way. Ronaldo’s departure would have left the United manager with big problems, but it is to Ferguson’s credit that Ronaldo did not leave – fighting against the ever-increasing player power of today.
So fast-forward. Ronaldo stays – not the same man we saw last year but still an invaluable asset to United. Meanwhile a fascinating story unfolded in Madrid. Raman Calderon, the deal breaker, has departed. A verbal agreement had been reached between Ronaldo’s agent and Calderon. The new president, whoever it may be, may look to bring change and may choose to focus his efforts on Kaka instead, however after Real Madrid’s exit from the Champions League (5-0 on aggregate to Liverpool) could this be the best time for Ronaldo to join up in the Spanish capital?
From a Real Madrid point of view, the squad is at an all time low. Despite a domestic resurgence under Ramos it’s clear they’ve suffered from the lack of stability and failure to capture their top targets, as well as the error in letting Robinho leave.
From a Manchester United view – Ferguson knows Ronaldo wants to play at Madrid and there’s only so long he can keep him at Old Trafford. Steps have been made with recent signings of Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajić to make sure the post-Ronaldo era is just as successful. There’ll also be all summer for United to make a big money buy if Ronaldo leaves at the start of the summer transfer window.
And from a Ronaldo point of view – a man who thrives on being in the spotlight would surely now be rubbing his hands at becoming the saviour of Real Madrid – he now has a chance to create his team at Real, like Ronaldinho did at Barcelona. If people thought last summer was a good time for Ronaldo to move to Real then the evidence for his move this summer is even more compelling – it might even make his mother happy.
Just a follow up to this – I wrote this as a bit of a reaction to Phil McNulty’s comments on his blog about the Liverpool/Real game which can be read here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2009/03/benitez-deserves-euro-respect.html
He says that “Cristiano Ronaldo has a dream to play for them [Real Madrid], he really must think again.”
My argument to this is that he doesn’t want to play for Real Madrid because of their recent results, he wants to play for them because of their history and culture. I think sometimes people forget about that – Phil clearly showing an ignorance to European and World Football with his Premiership bias – I expect a bit better from the BBC.
Posted by Steven Jones | 11 March, 2009, 13:17I think that general wingers don’t have a particularly long life span, they seems to peak at 24 – 26, and if they’re lucky they evolve like Ryan Giggs and develop a game that isn’t based entirely on speed. The European leagues are littered with players that looked unplayable when they were on form, but have either suffered an injury, a bad transfer or a dip in form from which they have never recovered. I would used Arjen Robben as a prime example of that, and for that reason if a club offered in excess of 70 million for a winger I would almost certainly take it because they are so expendable. I’m sure I will be shouted down for this, but if I had to name United’s top three players, Ronaldo would only just make the top three behind Carrick and Vidic. Moreover, what has happened this season has been good for the club, I think there have 13 one nil victories and 6 different scorers (although that might be wrong, I read it somewhere a while ago). Much better to share the reliance for goals on a number of players than just hope Ronaldo doesn’t pick up an injury. I think it is extremely unlikely that Ronaldo will leave this summer, United are at the summit and Sir Alex Ferguson will leave, I imagine, within the next five years. Surely the sensible thing to do is to wait for that and then leave the club on a high?
Posted by Alexjallen | 21 March, 2009, 09:22One thing, I think which Ronaldo showed last year was that he was more than just a winger.
I always laugh when I see Ronaldo still listed as a midfielder in the fantasy football, as although he doesn’t play on the last defender, his defensive responsibilities are little and he’s allowed to roam during the course of the game.
Normally I’d say a winger was expendable but I dont think Ronaldo is. I do think however there is life after Ronaldo and Fergie will be able to mould a forward line without him.
I think the likelihood now of Ronaldo leaving is more dependant on the desperate situation at Real and the imminent arrival of Perez – he normally gets his man.
Posted by Steven Jones | 25 March, 2009, 14:25