Cristiano Ronaldo Transfer Saga

[tyketime]

OK... so I've been a Manchester United fan for about 7 years now and the EPL in general, so I have a fairly good understanding of how things work over there. I believe that Ronaldo signed a 5-Year contract with ManU last year. Real Madrid has shown no class in its relentless pursuit of signing him. In reading the latest news, it now appears Ronaldo has strongly hinted he wants to go to Real sooner rather than later (and as a small sign of loyalty to his current club, only on the stipulation that they pay what ManU thinks is a fair price).

I get that sports contracts today aren't even worth the paper they are printed on - at least as far as loyalty and honoring them go. So what are the options here? Real is throwing out suggestions of a ridiculous amount of money (but in the long-run probably worth it with global merchandising, etc.). On one hand the Glazers (the US owners of ManU) have said they would rather sit him on the Reserves bench instead of selling him. Yet I believe the numbers being bandied about could eliminate 10% or more of the current club debt.

If you "hold the firm hand" and make Ronaldo stay for the term of his contract, he won't be happy. But I also don't think he would sabotage his situation to force an early transfer. He's still so young with many years ahead of him. Current opinion seems to suggest he will stay at Old Trafford one more year, and then move to Spain. But if you convince him to stay, you've got the potential for many more years of silverware with a fairly young squad in place.

Putting aside your rivalry-tinted glasses for a minute ;) , what do you think will happen?

[MIJB#19]

I think Ronaldo won't play a game for Man United again.

If indeed his heart is with Real Madrid, he'll make that move. Manchester United can't be interested in wasting so much money by demoting Ronaldo to the reserves or have him sitting on the bench, this ain't Winston Bogarde. It's just a matter of coming to a reasonable transfer fee and get it over with.

By the way, I think you'll have to ignore the "Real Madrid showed no class" argument. It's a text book example of how the soccer businesses in general work. Like it or not, but Manchester United does the same kind of stuff, showing interest in a player, giving that player the hots for making a big step in his career and forcing a transfer. That's how the soccer world goes. It's Ronaldo's class that will be tested here. And thinking back to the Champions' League win celebrations, I think it said enough when he decided to party alone, far away from his teammates.

[Marc Vaughan]

I think he'll probably end up moving for a huge fee (circa £50m) because of the amount of time left on his contract.

I also think that once he's moved he'll never really be the same player again, he's too young to really handle the pressures that will come with that sort of tag - especially in an environment where he's less protected by his manager.

Ferguson like Wenger at Arsenal has a gift for protecting and nurturing young players, Real Madrid on the other hand are unlikely to take such an approach with his career and instead expect an instant return on their investment ..

[tyketime]

And thinking back to the Champions' League win celebrations, I think it said enough when he decided to party alone, far away from his teammates.

I also noticed that, and I fear you may be right. Yes, I know ManU have been known to use similar tactics to "unsettle" a player. So turnabout is fair play. Point taken...

It will be interesting to see if any of this affects his Euro2008 performance. You could certainly say he has accomplished all that he could at ManU with the double this year as well as numerous player of the year awards. And his value will probably never be higher.

But if by him going means that dreadful Nani gets more playing time, I may have to switch allegiance to Stoke or Hull City :D

[BreizhManu]

By the way, I think you'll have to ignore the "Real Madrid showed no class" argument. It's a text book example of how the soccer businesses in general work. Like it or not, but Manchester United does the same kind of stuff, showing interest in a player, giving that player the hots for making a big step in his career and forcing a transfer. That's how the soccer world goes.

exactly, the Jérémy hélan to Manchester story short :

hxxp://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=703528 (http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=703528)

[law90026]

If Ronaldo is serious about leaving, he'll leave.

As much as Sir Alex might rant and rave about playing him in the reserves, he probably can't do that because:
1) it'll cause problems in the squad;
2) players might be hesitant to join Man Utd after that since they'll know their careers could be "ruined"; and
3) if Ronaldo isn't interested, there's no way he scored 40+ goals again next year.

Is Ronaldo a dick? Definitely.

[Big Fo]

£30m with Robinho and Sergio Ramos in return and maybe I'd be happy with the deal.

Ronaldo's mother says he'll be back in Manchester next season and he has four years left on his contract, I'm not so sure anything will happen this summer.

But if by him going means that dreadful Nani gets more playing time, I may have to switch allegiance to Stoke or Hull City

Dude, Nani is already good and he's only going to improve. He's no Ronaldo but I'd pick him over Giggs and Park, the other two options on the wing.

[DaddyTorgo]

reports on goal.com that Ronaldo has agreed to personal terms (~9.5m euro/yr) with Real Madrid, and Madrid is now putting together a bid of up to 100m euro for ManU

[tyketime]

Dude, Nani is already good and he's only going to improve. He's no Ronaldo but I'd pick him over Giggs and Park, the other two options on the wing.

Ugh! If Nani was even a fifth as good as he thought he was, I'd agree about his upside potential.

[Critch]

Ugh! If Nani was even a fifth as good as he thought he was, I'd agree about his upside potential.

Yeah, he seemed to start the season badly, then spend the rest of the season trying to score a one-man wonder goal to win the fans back over. He was trying to do too much. Based on last season's display if Nani is in place of Ronaldo, Ronaldo's 40 goals becomes Nani 2 goals and 38 shots over the bar.

If they can swing Robinho into the deal from Real Madrid, things look better. Sergio Ramos in place of Wes Brown too and things look much better.

[Icy]

As a real Madrid fan, i think this is a bad move for us. We don't need Ronaldo here, Robinho is good enough to play in the same position, also as it has been said in this thread, i doubt Ronaldo would be as successful in Madrid as he is in Manchester, even if he can handle the pressure (that i doubt).

If R.Madrid sends Sergio Ramos away in the trade, i would be pretty pissed (as would all the R.MAarid fans) as he is one of our best players, both because his technique/phisical condition and because his brave heart. I don't like the club politics of bringin a top star here every year, it rarely works and only creates chemistry problems.

Btw, question for UK fans, what can you say about Hibernian's forward Steve Fletcher? Spanish press says that he is going to sign with Madrid too.

[daedalus]

I think he'll probably end up moving for a huge fee (circa £50m) because of the amount of time left on his contract.based on ability, age, marketability and length of contract, that figure seems reasonable.

would that actually beat zidane's pricetag? I also think that once he's moved he'll never really be the same player again, he's too young to really handle the pressures that will come with that sort of tag - especially in an environment where he's less protected by his manager.agree. though that would be ashame. that boy is a bit talented. Ferguson like Wenger at Arsenal has a gift for protecting and nurturing young players, Real Madrid on the other hand are unlikely to take such an approach with his career and instead expect an instant return on their investment ..while losing a player of c.ronaldo's caliber hurts no matter who you are, with SAF still around and the talent on that club (first team and up-and-comer), i think manchester united will still be a force to reckon with next year, if not still the favourite. regardless of whatever doomsayers have to say.

of course, spuds is the scariest team for next year, in my opinion.

[daedalus]

Ugh! If Nani was even a fifth as good as he thought he was, I'd agree about his upside potential.while i am hardly a nani fan, i would hardly classify him as 'dreadful'. as talented as he was and as good as he is now, don't forget that c.ronaldo hardly lit up the premiership when he first joined the club.

[stevew]

I don't watch much soccer. Does one player actually contribute that much Euros worth of performance? We're talking like 25-30m USD per season, right(transfer plus salary). How much above replacement value is this guy?

[Icy]

I don't watch much soccer. Does one player actually contribute that much Euros worth of performance? We're talking like 25-30m USD per season, right(transfer plus salary). How much above replacement value is this guy?

If you look only at performance, it's not worth it for sure, but sadly, soccer is mainly a business and a player like Ronaldo can bring tons of money to any club just on merchandising sales and image rights (see Beckham in the MLS), and that is the main reason for R.Madrid to want to get him or any other top star.

[Big Fo]

I don't watch much soccer. Does one player actually contribute that much Euros worth of performance? We're talking like 25-30m USD per season, right(transfer plus salary). How much above replacement value is this guy?

If one of your strikers scores a goal every other game, that is considered quite good. Ronaldo isn't a striker, he mostly plays on the wing, yet he scored 42 goals in 49 appearances. He is the best player in the world right now.

[Marc Vaughan]

I don't watch much soccer. Does one player actually contribute that much Euros worth of performance? We're talking like 25-30m USD per season, right(transfer plus salary). How much above replacement value is this guy?

The problem isn't the cost - its that in soccer like most sports you can't just throw players together and have an instant team.

Ronaldo has gelled into the team perfectly in the last season and most times it will take time for any replacement to find his feet and perform to anywhere like the same level (thats even presuming they can find a replacement as similarly talented) - this could cost them a LOT more than the transfer fee/wages if Manchester United fail to win trophies next year.

[Marc Vaughan]

based on ability, age, marketability and length of contract, that figure seems reasonable.
would that actually beat zidane's pricetag?
Just a bit, although true transfer fee's are never known the media at the time reckoned it was in the region of $64.5m - so £50m ($98m approx) would top that transfer fee easily.

[Critch]

Btw, question for UK fans, what can you say about Hibernian's forward Steve Fletcher? Spanish press says that he is going to sign with Madrid too.

He's a good Hibs player and he's young will improve, but he's not a Messi. It would be a strange signing for Real Madrid.

[stevew]

Oh, okay, it makes a lot of sense that it costs that much money. So, it's like they're getting the soccer version of LeBron or Kobe or Ladianlian.

[cthomer5000]

while i am hardly a nani fan, i would hardly classify him as 'dreadful'. as talented as he was and as good as he is now, don't forget that c.ronaldo hardly lit up the premiership when he first joined the club.

He was pretty dreadful for the last 2 months of the season. He would single-handedly sabotage like 90% of offensive attacks by trying to score some 30 yard screamer... just because he managed to score like 1 wondergoal 5 months earlier.

He's a very, very flawed player at the moment. Miles away from Ronaldo.

[cthomer5000]

How much above replacement value is this guy?

He's basically unreplaceable. This year he was clearly the best player in the world, and the year before he was fantastic (but more in a supporting role). To score 40+ goals from the wing (thought he occasionally did play up front) is crazy.

They could probably pick up another fanstatic winger for like 20 million pounds... but as others have pointed out Ronaldo has tons of value as a marketing device. He's amazing, he's young, he's a very attractive guy so the chicks dig him, etc. He will sell a ton of jerseys wherever he is, he's on the cover of video games, etc.

If he does get sold, I think the deal is going to be insane in dollar value.


Addionaly, it's not a plug-and-play sport like baseball or football... the impact he has on the game is very hard to measure, and removing him would probably weaken the team a lot.

[Big Fo]

It's not like there are a ton of other great wingers on the market. Barca won't sell Messi, Bayern won't sell Ribery, Robben has already snubbed Man Utd once and is very injury prone, Robinho is the best I can think of.

One rumor today has United going after Atletico's Sergio Aguero but I thought he was more of a support striker like Rooney or Tevez, though he has had an excellent season.

[Oilers9911]

Ronaldo is a wonderful talent. He is also a dickhead, a diver, a flopper, whatever you want to call it. He also happens to be the best player in the world right now I believe.

[BYU 14]

And thinking back to the Champions' League win celebrations, I think it said enough when he decided to party alone, far away from his teammates.


That says it all to me, he seems aloof, pouty and is definitely a whiner. A great, great talent, but just not worth the baggage. I say good ridddance, Man U should soak Real Madrid for every peeny they can get.