Jun 11
Breaking News: United accept 80m Ronaldo bid
As reported on ManUtd.com, Manchester United have accepted an unconditional 80m transfer bid from Real Madrid for Ronaldo. The decision was taken after the player requested the move again this summer and is expected to go through by the end of the month.
United will in all likelihood use the funds to bring in a winger and a striker as replacements for Ronaldo and the likely-to-depart Tevez, with Ribery and Benzema the two names most linked to United.
We’ll have more on this as the story develops – for now you can read more here (ManUtd.com) and here (Soccerlens.com), and discuss it below in the comments.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Hargreaves Move Confirmed – Breaking News
- Anderson talks – puts speculation to bed
- Ribery, Sanchez, Silva or Eto’o? Who will replace Ronaldo?!
- Aston Villa v Man Utd:Preview
- Anyone With Knowledge of Spanish, Kindly Translate
Tags: Manchester United Players
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
BENZEMA SIGNS FOR UNITED!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={F9E570E6-407E-44BC-800F-4A3110258114}&newsid=6634291
Hahahaha… Its gonna be a long summer guys!
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@Fred The Red: I know Fred mate. I was listening to all the United faithful today outside OT and shown on TV channels, and there was NOT ONE GLUM FACE. I tell you Fred, its like sureal Bro. Like we have all been gradually, little by little come to know and accept the inevitability of the parting of ways. Maybe United fans had already separated themselves in their hearts and emotions from Ronnie. Certainly without exception all United fans interviewed said to a man, Ronaldo is a great, great player, but his theatrics and hand raising tantrums, his strutting and arrogant ego, his diving etc etc will not be missed. Even a girl or two who said Ronnie was their favourite player, SHED NO TEARS or true grief over the transfer. Nobody was even numb, it was like Ronnie to them had left last year even though he hadn’t. It is so hard to explain the atmosphere Bro.
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@Darth Red Diablo: STFU looney
. We don’t need another Real Madrid lover Benzema. You know the MA on the end of his name stands for MA-drid don’t you – surely?
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@Darth Red Diablo: it is if you keep dicking about!
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@Fred The Red: Well thankfully Bro, I am not the one who has to pull the magic rabbit out of the hat!
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@Craig Mc: your analysis of Ronny leaving our hearts last season is a very good one mate.
Many supporters wanted to embrace him again and longed for him to do or say something that would allow them to welcome him back into their hearts, it never happened, and the longer it did, the more emotional distance they put between themselves and Ronaldo, very unusual, but very real.
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@Traverse: @Craig Mc: Sorry Numptees… That did stop your heart between? Didnt it?
Actually I’m going on vacations next week. So bored at the moment as I just finished my GCSE’s!
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@Craig Mc: how nice it would be to win the Champions League at the home of Real Madrid next season, oh the thought of it.
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NNNOOOOOOOOO RONNIE!!!!!
You two-faced basterd!!!!! 
I was faithful to you!!!! 
Well, like they say, Fidelity is a virtue peculiar to those who are about to be betrayed…. and I for one will never again love a player so…. 
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@Darth Red Diablo: You should be enjoying that your exams are over, and loving the time you have off mate!
.
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@Fred The Red: Thats what my Arsenal friend was saying to me.
Problem is Craig. The whole blown at United is too wide. Only with Adept replacements as well as ADDITIONS can we even dream of the final, let alone winning it!
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@Gabriel:
, you sound like a lost and demented betrayed lover Bro 
.
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@Craig Mc: Just Chillin out with my mates Craig. But still. I need to do something Brain absorbing! And this football isn’t helping me either!
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@Gabriel: Don’t worry. Ronnie loved Dan more than you!
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@Fred The Red: I would totally love that Fred. Nothing could be sweeter than winning the CL in Madrid. We gotta somehow find the miracle to get us there 1st.
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@Darth Red Diablo: Keep chilling Bro, keep chilling
.
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Well I’m off you guys. Night all. I have to do double the work tomorrow to make up for doing nothing today
. I had to enter into all of this Ronnie discussion though, didn’t I. The GF is away for the weekend too, so I can catch up tomorrow. Bye ye all for now 
.
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@Craig Mc: On the other hand Craig. I’d like to say that you’ve started to chill and become relaxed. Quite a father you’ll make!
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Ribery… if not, Valencia…. and Benzema 80mill job done.
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For those who are bored, here’s something to lighten the mood.
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@Darth Red Diablo: No, it’s just really, really irritating. Didn’t even click the link. Its obvious nothing has happened. Transfers don’t tend to break out of nowhere at midnight GMT….
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@Fred The Red: Yes but this time it feels like my ex betraying me and getting my fathers blessing for doing so. I can’t help but remember Fergie say to the media on tv That he wouldn’t sell that mob Madrid a virus and even cursed saying Jesus Christ from his exasperation over the matter. I don’t know about some of you but I believed the man. Is Real Madrid not a mob anymore because there has been a change of one man in their hierarchy? And does this mean that Ronaldo was even worse than a virus?
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@Fred The Red: Fred, the power in a court of law belongs in the contract that is signed. And it’s about time teams held players accountable to that contract and took severe measures when the player wants to break it. There is no honor in this business and I find it sickening. I just don’t see this kind of nonsense in North America. Player come and go all the time but few ever demand or put there team up against the wall and force them to break a contract. It’s just not tolerated here.
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@Darth Red Diablo: Jesus Christ mate! Today is a glum day and a sad day for many and a day of frustration and relief for some. Do you think you can keep your boredom in check and quit the childish BS until this crap passes. It matters a little bit more to some of us than to you it seems and all I say is quit the juvenile crap until tempers calm down because today was the end of an era at Old Trafford for many. Perhaps tomorrow will be the beginning of a new and better era but for now, let me swim in my tears without you spouting your crap for a few days. If you do say something, try to make it intelligent instead of silly. And then come back to your silly self in a few days. Be a good apprentice and do thy bidding.
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@Fred The Red: Dream on.
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Craig, this ones for you Bro;
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2477360/Nani-I-can-be-the-new-Cristiano-Ronaldo.html
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@Grognard: What is to be said of clubs when players are no longer considered up to par and are chucked away like yesterdays news? Expectations and loyalty in football sometimes has to be situation specific. I fail to see how keeping Ronaldo on a bet that our stern warnings that he better grow up or else would have done any good; the only mistake was not at least trying to woo some players as part of the deal. I do not know how you can not feel betrayed by him. I feel betrayed by his not always giving his all last season, by his disrespecting us the fans and various staff as has been well documented, and for him just being the general asshole he’s become. His ego at present means he would not slip into mediocrity, but I can see it becoming big enough and threatened enough to where he’d sabotage us. It’s not beyond him
You are right that we deserve to be kept in the loop, but even as the Glazer’s have unforgivingly saddled us with debt, they are business men first and foremost and must have duly noted that without success on the field they have no hope of ever escaping this problem that is of their own making. And they haven’t been complete assholes, so lets see what they do before we start burning any effigies.
I love Manchester United, but they remind me of America: always exalting all the trite, hackneyed themes common in any graduation speech and positioning themselves as a paradaigm of virtue and chastity, but when it suits them, will go against any and all its principles. Like Bill Clinton said, however, “there is nothing wrong with America, that cannot be fixed by what is right with America,” and certainly our clubs traditions and history has more than enough for us to revere and appreciate.
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I agree it is pathetic the way we just yielded to Madrid.
Its like a girl putting up token resistance and protesting all the time when she really wants to be in bed with you and after a bit of a dance and show you end up doing the dirty with her.
Because after doing this deal we’ve jumped in bed with Real Madrid and it disgusts me. We sold Beckham because we wanted to get rid of him. But Ronaldo we sold because we couldn’t keep the player happy and needed the money.
Im sad to say it but we aren’t the biggest club in the world. We wait an entire generation to finally have the best player in the world playing for us and then we sell him.
For me the best solution is to build our team around Rooney and bring in young talent such as Douglas Costa, Valencia, Benzema etc.
Ribery is a direct replacement but there is no point trying to buy world class replacements as we’ll just get ripped off. Madrid got good value for their money becauase Ronaldo really is worth every penny of 80 million.
Ribery is worth 40 million tops. Same with Aguero. But we’d get charged £60 million if we wanted to buy either of them maybe more which would leave us little change. And while i like both players they are a long way off Ronaldos standard.
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@Grogs: What about the Kobe-Shaq saga. Players demand trades all the time. Its nothing. I feel its easier in Europe because it actually cost money as opposed to cap space to trade players.
It is sad that we lost Ronaldo, I didn’t think they BITCH-MADE Spanish motherfuckers(sorry RR) would buy him. I thought the price was a deterrent. But I seem to remember feeling bad about Becks and subsequent miss on Ronaldinho but imagine selling Ronaldo at 28 when he has lost his shine? The real problem here and I hope Ferguson saw this coming given the signs last year is a Replacement.
I live in the US and there are only three players that are known. Gerrad, Ronaldo and Beckham. Ribery isn’t going to be a replacement he’s over prced and already at an age, and I’m sorry Beckham and Ronaldo have set the standard. We need a pretty boy. I hope Nani has a breakout year (provided he doesn’t move on). This is a problem and these knee jerk suggestions do not satisfy me. RR please offer me a replacement suggestion that works OR Grogs give me the doom and gloom.
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@colver: Relax. The Glazer deal actually is cool because Manchester United shouldn’t be that badly leveraged, Wal-Mart has a 60% Leverage Ratio and they are publicly traded. IF United needed to actually raise funds they can simply offer stock. And that stock will sell profusely. The debt is nothing, its just leveraging its actually prudent on the banks investing because of the return.
There is no way we turn down an 80 Mil windfall. Good business. But I hope we have a reliable replacement. I worry about our performance next season. I hope we have done or scouting homework. So much for a quiet summer…..
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@colver: I agree about not being the biggest club in the world!!
It’s days like this that puts our feet firmly back on the ground. In one foul swoop, Madrid have spent on two players, what we have spent in total, over the last 4-5 years!!
We just can’t compete with this kind of spending, and then you add into account the UK tax code, and the Manchester weather, it becomes an unattractive destination for a lot of foreign stars!!
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@Abu: We will have to spend that 80m, plus more, if we are to compete with the top PL teams. This “spend happy” strategy in not our forte anyway, as we get a mind fix on one player and then end up paying over the odds for him!
If we continue with our growth by youth policy, the next few seasons will be hard to stomach, especially after 3 years of success.
On the other hand we could blow the 80m, plus, plus, on a couple of good players, ditch the youth program, and pray like hell that they fit in well and don’t get depressed by the weather and taxes!!
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@Roge9: I do like your closing paragraph, a lot!!
It laments to the naive nature of us fans – then offers hope and comforting.
Nice, mate. You should hold counseling sessions for despondent United fans in your spare time. Could make a mint over the next couple of days!!
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Ive got a bad feeling we are going to pull out all stops to sign Tevez now we have cash in the bank. Appeasing the fans and all that.
I think this would be a mistake. Tevez is more of the same and we need to revamp our team. Move away from the football that revolved around Ronaldo and move back to our roots. That means traditional wingers, gritty midfielders, strikers who can actually head the ball and someone with a bit of creativity in midfield who can unlock defences. More subtelty less of our predictable (but often highly effective) counter attacking style which gets shut out by a team that can keep ball like Barca
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@colver: Tevez is in the 10-12m bracket as far as I’m concerned. At that price I wouldn’t mind him coming on, in the second half the liven things up a bit.
But if we pay the 25m I will be pissed as all hell. That player is lucky to get the fans loyalty, because to me, he was useless and pedestrian for 75% of the season!!
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@Grognard: Big Brother has deeper roots here, mate!!
Owning people is part of this nations history!!
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@Redrich: That is harsh. He is class. World class, actually.
Also, what is this doom and gloom about Ronaldo’s departure. We can deal without him – still have a pretty decent squad – and we can improve on what we have now with the money. Stop being so pessimistic.
In Fergie we trust!
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@Andrei: You’re dreaming, mate. Tevez offered nothing more than an infusion of pace. His positioning and first touch were appalling for most of the season, and it’s not gonna get better next year.
Yesterday he took a penalty for the Argies, and it was in the same class as Berbatov’s against Everton!! The guy just reeks of an overrated has-been, and his best position is across town at the Eastlands!!
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@Andrei: Ronaldo scored 66 goals in the last 3 PL campaigns, I have a sneaky suspicion that had a good deal to do with our successes, don’t you??
It’s not so much pessimism, but a stark realization that we are a completely different proposition without him!!
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I just had the worst dream. I dreamt that we sold ronaldo to the scum at Madrid and we didn’t even have a back up plan to cover the loss.
I was so happy when I woke up and realized it was just a dream.
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@Roge9: Very well said. I can’t disagree with a word of that mate. I especially agree with your analogy that United are like America. They are and I suppose that is why I felt so disappointed today.
Yesterday I wrote a rant and personal letter to Ronaldo stating all the reasons why he had to go, so his leaving never upset me in the least. It was United giving into Real Madrid, the same scummy mob who were not worth selling a virus too. Those words by Fergie ring in my head. I thought the team stood as a beacon of right and a paragon of justice in this insane world of football and outrageous finances and borderline ethics. I really wanted them to teach Real Madrid a lesson. Ronaldo would eventually adapt. What’s he going to do, quit playing the game he loves. His ego and his goals for personal reward would never have let him. Fergie and United were too easily conned by his temper and tantrums. I would have benched him for a few games and disciplined him until he shut up and knew his damned role. I also would have hired Roy Keane as my assistant to make sure he never forgets it. But that’s me. I do not concede defeat easily and I fight for right.
That said, I am glad he’s gone but I do worry that the money we made will be used by the glazer’s to service their debt. I hope I’m wrong and I hope Fergie buys smart. I sincerely hope he stays away from the Madrid loving Benzema. All is needed is him to have an outstanding season with us and Madrid will send out their hound Zidane to tempt him to bolt for Spain. Why Fergie continues to stubbornly pursue players who show no love or allegiance to United and even worse, make a point of claiming their love for Madrid bewilders and frustrates me.
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@colver: Sorry mate but the combination of Ribery and Aguero is as good if not better than Ronaldo. Both classy magicians with the ball and their best years ahead of them.
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@Abu: Kobe-Shaq was a feud between two teammates. That is very rare indeed and so one had to go. Fir three years Kobe was demanding a change and the Lakers simply said to him NO, live with it. Eventually he calmed down, grew up a bit and realized that LA was the best place for him. He was correctly shown an iron hand. That’s how we should have dealt with Ronaldo. Or at least sell him when it was convenient to us. Line up his replacements and have them in tow before you sell him. Now they are forced to look and expect them to have to pay 25% more for every player they want. It was dumb how they handled this.
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@Abu: Excellent point mate. It’s refreshing to hear somebody with some classic business acumen offer some great insight.
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@Redrich: So true. One has to realize that in other parts of the world, the reputation and history of Manchester United, means very little in comparison to the two Milan’s, Juventus, Madrid and Barcelona. England’s culture and climate is not for everyone and it certainly isn’t for hot blooded and warm weather loving Latino’s.
I’ve said for some time now that United need to look harder for players in Eastern Europe and Northern Europe where players are more tuned in to our weather and can adjust better to our culture. I’m actually surprised how few Germans, Poles, Czechs, and Russians have played in the EPL.
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hmm.. does anyone know any real prospects we have coming in?
Aguero looks good, though is he a realistic opportunity? or we will be out bidded for all our targets this off season by shitty, cheslki and real mardi gras?
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The team is going to be built around : NOT ROONEY!!!… the next number 7 of manchester united.. now guess who it is???
…Wait for it…
…Wait for it…
…Wait for it…
ANNNNNNNNDDDDDEEEEEEERRRRRRRRSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!
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no its park duh
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@Grognard: All eyes are on Ribery and Benzema Groggy… And seeing Fergie’s preference… It is gonna be those two. Fergie is in action… Just behind the scenes!
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news all over saying we have a 100mil to spend
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