Ronaldo to Real Madrid

[Rich]

They won't sign a better individual but they can strengthen across the board.

With the £80m to splurge they can make their squad even better however I don't think they could replace Ronaldo with one player in their first 11. Perhaps Messi and he ain't going anywhere.

[barnes10]

i just don't see who utd are going to sign - one, two or three players who'll genuinely make them a stronger team than last season.

Villa and silva are the obvious ones and neither want to leave spain. would love ourseves to get them or failing that madrid to take one.

they can keep tevez but thats not an improvement.

benzema? cisse and cheyrou looked good in france...

messi? I think they'll have to trade all of that 80 mill to land him. even then, he's hardly been great against english teams has he?

eto'o - probably means goodbye to berbatov or at least some disruption behind the scenese. great player for a season or two tho.

I can't think of any real top drawer players. Utd have won the last two seasons based on fear (other teams being scared of their stars) and ronaldo being basically superhuman. What winger scores 70 goals over 2 seasons?

they are losing ronaldo, maybe tevez, giggs and scholes this season and ourselves, barca and fulham have shown tactically astute teams how they can be beaten.

They have also benefitted greatly from gerrard and torres' partnership being seriously disrupted this season.

This move is great news for us have no doubts about that.

[Rich]

i just don't see who utd are going to sign - one, two or three players who'll genuinely make them a stronger team than last season.

Villa and silva are the obvious ones and neither want to leave spain. would love ourseves to get them or failing that madrid to take one.

they can keep tevez but thats not an improvement.

benzema? cisse and cheyrou looked good in france...

messi? I think they'll have to trade all of that 80 mill to land him. even then, he's hardly been great against english teams has he?

eto'o - probably means goodbye to berbatov or at least some disruption behind the scenese. great player for a season or two tho.

I can't think of any real top drawer players. Utd have won the last two seasons based on fear (other teams being scared of their stars) and ronaldo being basically superhuman. What winger scores 70 goals over 2 seasons?

they are losing ronaldo, maybe tevez, giggs and scholes this season and ourselves, barca and fulham have shown tactically astute teams how they can be beaten.

They have also benefitted greatly from gerrard and torres' partnership being seriously disrupted this season.

This move is great news for us have no doubts about that.

I don't think £100m would land Messi

[Joe King]

Cristiano Ronaldo is a frighteningly complete package. He is irreplaceable

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/b...chester-united

Fans will shed few tears over Cristiano Ronaldo's sale. But that does not mean they will not be acutely aware of the damaging implications for Manchester United

So Sir Alex Ferguson has sold Real Madrid a virus after all. That will be the feeling of those who have long since advocated the sale of a player who, for all palpable footballing ability, had apparently begun to contaminate the Old Trafford dressing room with his monstrous ego.

While this perception would barely be disputed by even Cristiano Ronaldo's strongest advocates, so tiresome were his antics last season, the fact remains that his ego stems in part from his own knowledge that he is entirely irreplaceable. That Manchester United will receive an ostensibly preposterous £80m for his services is almost irrelevant: at the apex of any creative pursuit, the asset is almost always more valuable than the money.

Ronaldo is a freak of a footballer, physically but also statistically. This is a wide forward who scores goals at the rate of a centre forward: 23 in 2006-07, 42 in 2007-08 and 26 last season, even though he was clearly below his best until the scent of glory invigorated him in April and May. Chuck in his unquantifiable ability as a matchwinner, whose frenzied desire for victory can make the other 21 players on the pitch seem almost superfluous, and you have a frighteningly complete package. No matter how Sir Alex Ferguson spends the money - and assumptions of Franck Ribéry joining will be widespread, along with Luis Antonio Valencia - he will struggle to find a wide player who scores over 20 goals a season. In his current squad, with only Park Ji-sung, Nani and Zoran Tosic to choose from, he will struggle to find a wide player who scores five a season.

Supporters will, you suspect, will shed few tears: Ronaldo had none of the emotional ties they shared with the likes of Eric Cantona and Roy Keane. But that does not mean they will not be acutely aware of the damaging implications for the team.

United were already struggling for goals: their total of 68 last season was the lowest with which they have won a Premier League title since 1992-93, and the loss of Ronaldo means that an already fairly pedestrian attacking unit has a disconcerting lack of pace and directness. That, to an extent, ties in with Ferguson's new obsession with technique and concentration, and perhaps this will lead to a productive prioritising of Wayne Rooney, who has advertised his claims to be the side's focal point so splendidly with England all season. Yet the suspicion remains that, for all Rooney's abundant qualities, the sale of the club colleague with whom he had the most obvious telepathy will simply place greater pressure on the real USP of this side: the centre-back pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

It would be premature to damn Ferguson for the sale, particularly given the stunning success of an even more controversial triple-sale in 1995, but this is the first time he has sold a truly world-class player in his prime. It is thus interesting to reflect on Ferguson's motives. Perhaps he simply tired of the antics, and felt Ronaldo's tantrum against Manchester City and then his unnecessary and risible criticism of Ferguson's tactics in Rome represented the final straw. Perhaps Ronaldo had lost the dressing-room. Perhaps he felt Rooney could wait no longer. Perhaps the money was simply irresistible.

Or perhaps this deal had been in place since last summer, with many feeling that Ferguson agreed to grant Ronaldo his dream move provided he gave him one more year while Ferguson attempted to remould the side with a view to his departure. That would explain why he switched from the 4-3-3 of 2007-08 to the 4-2-3-1 that predominated for most of 2008-09. Such a switch meant Ronaldo playing as a wide midfielder rather than a wide forward, yet he still put more goals on the table than anybody else.

Goals are the defining currency of the sport. It's hard to work out a precise exchange rate these days, but 91 goals in three seasons seems a fair trade, even at £80m.

Rob Smyth is a United fan, wonder what dick sucking Daniel Taylor will write? Probably something bitter as per usual.

Despite Ronaldo not having a 'great season' he did score something like 26 goals for them this season - a lot from dead ball situations. One thing I definitely won't miss - his silly set up routine and toe poke execution.

Its funny how Sky Sports are reporting this. Its as if he is dying

United will probably go for Tevez and Benzema and another young winger. Don't think Ribery will go to United mainly because he has always wanted to play for Barcelona.

[The Birdman]

As I've posted many times before football goes in cycles and this is the beginning of the end of Utd's dominance - yes they will still be very good, yes they'll still win things but not to the extent they have over the past 10 years.
The other thing in our favour that no-one has mentioned is the impact a strong Man City will have, for years Everton have really pushed us, made it difficult to get the points, City mostly rolled over and gave Utd an easy 6 points every season, not any more they won't.
A strong local rival for Utd, Arsenal still fancy dan Arsenal, Chelsea with another new Manager and the strongest Liverpool team in recent history with the least disruption out of all the sides challenging and the belief and strength of character from this season.
We've got a great chance next season, we really have.

[Assassin]

Barcelona finance director Xavier Sala i Martin is bewildered as to how Real Madrid are funding their summer spending spree.

With a reported transfer budget of 300million euros at their disposal, Madrid president Florentino Perez has this week set about creating a second 'galacticos' era.

The Spanish giants had a world-record bid of £80million for Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo accepted by Manchester United on Thursday, hot on the heels of Monday's 68million euros acquisition of Brazil playmaker Kaka from AC Milan.

And Sala i Martin, whose team finished nine points clear of Madrid at the Primera Division summit last month, is puzzled by how the purchases are being financed.

He told Radio Station RAC1: "I don't know where the 300million euros that Florentino Perez expects to invest on signings are coming from.

"He says he will recover that money by selling shirts but, in order to do that, he will have to sell 30million shirts. That is impossible."

[red g]

One day, perhaps this coming season or perhaps the season after, it will dawn on Manchester United's owners that Cristiano Ronaldo was irreplaceable.

Although £80million in the bank softens the most painful blow, Ronaldo was as close to a priceless asset as any footballer can get.

This could well be the end of an era for United. They have lost key players before such as Roy Keane, David Beckham and Eric Cantona, and suffered a blip before they rebuilt under Sir Alex Ferguson but Ronaldo is the best player in the world, bar none.

We may have baulked at his diving in his early days, been put off by his petulance and preening and decried his air of arrogance but it is a simple fact that, whoever United splash out on to replace Ronaldo this summer, they will be a lesser side without him.

Who will come in? Franck Ribery? David Silva? Good players, sure, but not at Ronaldo's level, nowhere near.

Dribbling, shooting, passing, heading, free-kicks - and what free-kicks - he really has it all.

What about those who are almost at his level, such as Lionel Messi, or Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Kaka, Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Michael Essien and Cesc Fabregas?

Barcelona will not sell their best players, even for £80million, for that would be tantamount to suicide, especially with the return of the galacticos era to Real Madrid.

As for the others: Kaka has just been signed by Real; Liverpool fans would storm the Anfield barricades if any move were made to sell Torres or Gerrard to United; Chelsea are so rich - still - that they do not have to sell anybody; and if Fabregas is going to go anywhere it would be back to Barcelona, not Manchester.

As Manchester City are finding out, you can have the biggest bank balance in the game but there is a limited supply of truly world-class players out there.

This was of course Ronaldo's decision too and though his previous overt flirting with Real Madrid had diminished of late, to many that was merely a sign that this time he really did want to go.

United fans will try to console themselves with the thought that Ferguson will be able to embark on the kind of spending spree Imelda Marcos enjoyed with shoes.

But of course it is not as simple as that. Not these days. The Glazer family run Manchester United as a business and blowing this £80million windfall is unlikely to be their chosen course of action.

Last year Red Football, the parent company of United and its various offshoots, returned a loss of £44.8million, increasing the Glazers' overall debt to an eye-watering £649.4million.

Ronaldo's sale will no doubt help United - the club rather than the parent company - record even higher profits for this year but with Red Football needing to service interest payments of £69million a year, no one should rely on the transfer fee being merely added to Ferguson's existing transfer kitty.

When one adds the Carlos Tevez factor into the United equation, the challenge becomes that much more daunting for Ferguson. If he wants to keep the Argentinian it will cost the club £30million.

If he does not, then he needs to find replacements for both him and Ronaldo.

What this world-record deal and Kaka's £56million move shows is that a big gap is beginning to develop. The small pool of rich clubs is shrinking - now perhaps it is just the top four Premier League clubs plus Manchester City and Barcelona and Real Madrid who can compete for the stars.

Increasingly, the world-class players are going to command staggering transfer fees, and staggering wages, and some analysts believe we may even see a slight drop for those at the next level.

Ronaldo's world-record move poses uncomfortable questions for United in terms of how far they can go to compete with their rivals at home and abroad.

The first answer will come from how much of the £80million Ferguson gets to spend.

The definitive answer will come in the next two seasons when we discover just how much United have suffered from Ronaldo's departure

[PTP]

Rob Smyth is a United fan, wonder what dick sucking Daniel Taylor will write? Probably something bitter as per usual.

Despite Ronaldo not having a 'great season' he did score something like 26 goals for them this season - a lot from dead ball situations. One thing I definitely won't miss - his silly set up routine and toe poke execution.

Its funny how Sky Sports are reporting this. Its as if he is dying

United will probably go for Tevez and Benzema and another young winger. Don't think Ribery will go to United mainly because he has always wanted to play for Barcelona.

well the winger is going to be Valencia isn't it??? - I am quite happy if they kepe tevez for the £35m and sign valencia for £16m - leaves them with say £30m and a weaker team than they currently have -then it gets tricky for ferguson, does he gamble that £30m on one player who can try and make up for some of the loss of ronaldo, or does he strengthen the squad bringing in 3 or 4 lesser players to cover the likes of scholes/giggs/nani/hargreaves etc

[Joe King]

well the winger is going to be Valencia isn't it??? - I am quite happy if they kepe tevez for the £35m and sign valencia for £16m - leaves them with say £30m and a weaker team than they currently have -then it gets tricky for ferguson, does he gamble that £30m on one player who can try and make up for some of the loss of ronaldo, or does he strengthen the squad bringing in 3 or 4 lesser players to cover the likes of scholes/giggs/nani/hargreaves etc

Tevez will be £22m - they have already paid for £10m of him over the past two years.

Valencia's price may increase.

[Kinell]

Not sure if its been mentioned already, but for another 20 million they could have bought newcastle.

[Guest]

Not sure if its been mentioned already, but for another 20 million they could have bought newcastle.

[Tee]

Not sure if its been mentioned already, but for another 20 million they could have bought newcastle.

But I thought Newcastle was being sold for a Curly Wurly.

[Montana]

Funny how some United fans think Fergie is simply a God in the transfer market and that £80m will be spent well.

I reminded them of the £55m he wasted on Nani, Hargreaves & Anderson. £55m!!!!!!!

Then they've got the problem with prices being inflated such as with the vastly over-priced Berbatov £30m & Carrick £20m

Of course if they can get 2-3 of the superstars being linked then yes they've got a chance but I think most of the top players being talked about aren't gonna come ......

Ribery - hates England and went to Germany 2 years ago despite interest from PL clubs back then
Benzema - on record as saying he wants to go to Spain if he leaves Lyon. Barcelona interested.
Villa - going to Madrid
Aguero - possibility but Milan, Barcelona, Chelsea & Man City competing
Eto'o - possibility but seems to favour Inter & Serie A

[andyhanrahan]

usually players like ronaldo go to madrid get chewed up and discarded a fwew years later. If Liverpool want him wait 3 years and we could have him for a few million plus what ever benitez finds behind the sofa

[PTP]

Funny how some United fans think Fergie is simply a God in the transfer market and that £80m will be spent well.

I reminded them of the £55m he wasted on Nani, Hargreaves & Anderson. £55m!!!!!!!

Then they've got the problem with prices being inflated such as with the vastly over-priced Berbatov £30m & Carrick £20m

Of course if they can get 2-3 of the superstars being linked then yes they've got a chance but I think most of the top players being talked about aren't gonna come ......

Ribery - hates England and went to Germany 2 years ago despite interest from PL clubs back then
Benzema - on record as saying he wants to go to Spain if he leaves Lyon. Barcelona interested.
Villa - going to Madrid
Aguero - possibility but Milan, Barcelona, Chelsea & Man City competing
Eto'o - possibility but seems to favour Inter & Serie A

exactly - its why it's such a huge risk - ok fair enough for united it was obv ronaldo wanted out so they got £80m for him which is unreal! but what the mancs and others who think it's a good move don't realise is it's not champ man, it's not as black and white as going "hmm, we have £80m to spend, so i will have Silva £25m, Tevez £25m and ribery £30m and we will be amazing"

it just doesn't work like that and as you point out, well united's/fergie's record isn't ****ing great! esp when spending a fair amount - Juan Veron anyone!