May 28
Farewell Gerard, Selfish Rooney, EVDS to Play Till 40?
Welcome back. We’re officially done with the 07/08 season and we’ll tread no man’s land for the next couple of months.
Thankfully, the Euros will provide for some distraction from the ennui that will surely descend on the summer. People will die — not from the heat, but from frantically refreshing news websites looking for the latest breaking news on transfers.
One of the primary culprits responsible for causing such excitement and expectation is the Mirror, who proudly claim that Manchester United want to spend £50m in 14 days. I think the nice gentlemen at the Mirror even know which player they plan to buy and for how much because they already seem to know so much about United’s transfer strategy, perhaps even before United knew anything of it. [Predictive journalism?]
Anyway, let this piece of news not distract us from something that actually happened: Gerard Pique moves to Barcelona. For £5m which, I think, is good business. I was impressed by the lad despite his being suspect on aerial balls. He was up against the best defensive partnership in Europe. So it’s not his fault really. Anyway, good luck to him at his home club.
Update: Pique’s even written an open letter to the fans. Nice touch, I thought.
In related news, Jonny Evans could be courted by Roy Keane to have him over for another season on loan. I think it’s a good idea to farm him out to Sunderland for a further six months. It would not be smart of the boss to sell even Evans now that we’ve sold Pique. We do have Silly and Brown who can deputise at centre back. But six months is not a bad idea, just to be safe.
The Sun quotes EVDS as saying he’ll play beyond 40, although he doesn’t say it himself in the quote. True to type from the solar tabloid, one would think.
Fabio Capello plans to play Rooney in a more familiar role of shadow striker. He advises Rooney to be more selfish — I can’t disagree.
Yes, United have threatened to report Real to FIFA. But I think it’s going to take a lot more than threats to tame a thick skinned beast like the Los Merengues. And rumours still refuse to die away. Sample this from the Mirror — whose praises have already been sung above — who reckon Fergie will fly over to Geneva (where the Portuguese players are currently training) to have face-to-face talks with Ronaldo in a bid to keep him at the club. They have even made the report sound perfectly credible with a wonderfully thought out title: Rondezvous. God bless the editor.
And we shall end this today with another one of Carrick’s words of wisdom: “Munich Inspired our Win.”
Indeed, hold on to that thought for today.
‘Tis all for the day. I’m off for now. Be good.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Brazilian’s United Debut and Other Stories
- Preparing to beat Reading
- United vs Reading: Preview
- The World Loves Rooney + West Brom Preview
- So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Tags: Manchester United News
Craig Mc (200)
RedDevilEddy (182)
Opti (145)
Ian (108)
Moscow is my heaven (99)
Jez: Mate you contradict yourself in the same sentence “I know he is built in the Rooney and Tevez mold but I think he is just the same as Benzema.” Impossible, unless you meant Kun and Benzema were the same price-wise, in which case you are absolutely right as both would probably require £40m+ bids for their respective clubs to even think about parting company with them.
I really really hope we can secure the signature of Huntelaar at least before Euro 2008, and would be over the moon if we could sign Micah Richards too. I don’t want Luis Fabiano or Dani Alves however.
Like?
0 
0
Also, what do people think of Dani Guiza (27 y/o) of Real Mallorca as a possible striking target? He’s in the Spain squad for Euro 2008 and finished top scorer in La Liga this season. He’s also been linked with Arsenal. Although he seems like a flash-in-the-pan one-hit wonder at first, on the couple of times I have seen him play I couldn’t help but note the strong physical presence and good heading ability he possesses, which I think we could most certainly use next year. He could turn out to be a late bloomer like Luca Toni….
Like?
0 
0
Dont know if anybody has posted this, but according to Ronaldos girlfriend, Nereida Gallardo, Ronaldo has proposed to her. I dont think that is a good sign. According to The Sun, Ronaldo had promised her to marry her if Unied won the Champions League. Her ex-boyfriend has said that she is a sex-maniac that can knowhow to satisfy every man in every possible way and he is surprised that their relationship has gone so far, since he thought Ronaldo would get tired of her. She only wants money and to be in the headlines, and I dont think it is good for Ronaldo to have a girlfriend like that at this time. He said he didnt want to get married until he was 30, so his personal life wouldnt make problems for him, but now…
Like?
0 
0
Here: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article1214459.ece
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevil
Lets not behave crazy fans… Leave the personal lives out!! Even though it may be relevent its none of our business… Else there is no difference between us and E News worshippers!!
PS: Just a personal opinion…
Like?
0 
0
craigmc, could not agree with you more mate, its starting to get to me the way Ronaldo is treating the club with so much contempt. I dont blame Real Madrid coz thats the way that they operate, its disgusting and disrespectful but lets be honest here, Real dont give a toss about United or any club that have a player that they want and the whole world knows that. But the attitude of Ronaldo is even more disgusting coz at the very least he should be displaying some genuine emotional ties to the manager, players and fans that have supported him so much through thick and thin. He owes United so much for his development yet everytime he opens his mouth he talks about dreaming of spain, does he not realise that to play for United is an honour and a privelige that most of the supporters would do for nothing, We are the biggest club in the world with a history that rivals any other team on the planet and before you people start to mention Reals 9 European cups, go and study the history of Real and you will see a club that was embroilled in political corruption and a club that was used for propaganda purposes by the Spanish dictator Franco.
DONT beleive me, just google Real Madrid and General Franco, and see what comes up.
SAF has indulged this boys ego more than anybodies that I can remember and its a shame coz the boy appears to love no one but himself and its actually starting to hurt me that this ungrateful meglomaniac is treating our club like something he trod on in the street, who does he think that he is. If he comes out in 2 or 3 weeks and says that he is staying and that he loves the club then fine I will hold my hands up and say maybe I was a bit OTT, but even if he does, part of me will never trust him again the feeling that he is using us as a stepping stone to his dream team in Madrid will still linger.
Thats why the people who go to OT every week still love Wazza more than Ronaldo, coz Wazza is genuinely, one of us.
Like?
0 
0
Craig MC, I agree ewith most of what you say, except that if the club asks Ronaldo to “put up or shut up” as you say, this might lead to a rift between the player and the club, and who will benefit from this?
Real Fucking Madrid!
They would be able to get Ronny on the cheap, which is the last thing I want.
But I also agree with Johnsom comment #46.
Like?
0 
0
Hey I think I’ll just open a new can of worms, seeing as the discussion seems to be going round and round…
Picture this : Ronaldo Leaves!
Who should we buy to replace him?
Personally I’d go for Quaresma.
Like?
0 
0
Nino: Yeah, I kinda have that streak in me to contradict myself LOL.. But what I’m trying to say is that they are not the the tall type of player we are looking for but Aguero is awesome and if Atl. Madrid raised him the way they raised Torres, wouldn’t it be a shame that we didn’t buy him as early as possible?
Fred The Red: Your ending couldn’t have been anymore truer, Rooney is United’s next Gazza, Giggsy or Scholesy.
Like?
0 
0
Nico QB – How do you make that out mate?. Ronaldo has still over 3 years of his contract left, so even if he is asked to put up or shut up, and it causes friction, how does that mean United will sell him on the cheap. We have never done that with any of the players we sold to Real, and I doubt we will start with Ronaldo.
Fred the Red, I see your passion mate LOL. You do have a true red heart, that’s for sure!.
Like?
0 
0
[Dan]
Tribal Football don’t “break” any news. They link any player to anyone, and amidst that randomness something comes out to be true. It’s like the analogy of a million monkeys on typewriters where one monkey comes up with the works of shakespeare.
Tribal Football just copy paste reports from the Sun, the Guadian etc, pick up specific lines and blow them out of proportion to attract traffic. If you want that, then power to you. Other than guilty pleasures, there is really no point quoting Tribal Football. I’m not telling you not to read Tribal Football [personally I wouldn't] but quoting them for transfer rumours is a waste of time. We already have enough bull shit to deal with.
Them getting Anderson right is not to their credit. And is not a reason for you to defend them. It’s like someone defending Hitler for sparing the life of one Jew, because he was in a good mood.
Like?
0 
0
fair enough, that your view.
Like?
0 
0
[Dan]
Yes, it’s indeed my view. Pretty sure of it.
Like?
0 
0
Craig MC: Twice we sold players on the cheap To Real.
Beckham: 25million was it? Word goes that Real recouped the investment after a month with T-Shirt sales.
RVN: The one player who has made a difference in the last 2 years for Real. the Socios calling him Van Gol, etc… What was his price tag? 11 millions?
So, yes I thought Real could have coughed up at least twice the transfer figuers we got for Beckham and RvN, especially when you consider the ridiculous amount they spent on Pepe, Diarra…
Forgive my figures I can’t remember if it was pounds or Euros…
Like?
0 
0
[Nico]
We sold the players on the cheap because we wanted to sell them and they fell out with the boss. If that happens the value of the player plummets.
Like?
0 
0
Actually we even made a marginal profit on Gaby Heinze even though we were desperate to sell him to anyone but Pool
Like?
0 
0
NicoQB, I hear you mate, but I think it was good money at that time for Beckham, because of transfer fees at that time. Fees have only become outrageously magnified, since Red Rom came into power at the Chelsea Kremlin!. Surely in the last 2/3 years transfer fees have doubled, and not to hte good of the game either!. Ruud was like 29 wasn’t he, so he only had a few years left!.
Like?
0 
0
Like?
0 
0
I think Andrei’s view earlier is spot on. Seriously if we got offered Robinho and Ramos, Ronnie would be out the door faster than you could say ‘winker’. I think that just for the fun of it we should offer him to Atletico for Aguero and Maxi Rodriguez. Now that would be some swap and would piss off Real to the max… Sure we could even get Diego Forlan back
Like?
0 
0
No offense, and a little bit off topic, but that girl(Ronnie’s GF) looks a lil bit of a slut…not being judgemental
Like?
0 
0
…and also a question about the Brazillian twins, are they going to get intergrated into the first team like Anderson or will they start off in the reserves like Possebon.
Like?
0 
0
[Rd]
Why the “no offense”? Who did you think you would offend by calling her a slut on this blog? Ronaldo?
Like?
0 
0
Definitely agree with you Rd, she looks like bad news for Ronaldo and to certain extent for United..
Like?
0 
0
RR and Craig Mc: My point precisely. We all know that Ronaldo’s a dick when it comes to showing gratitude to the club that made him.
Yet, if Real comes to know that if for sure Ronaldo wants to leave, resulting from an ultimatum from the Manchester board or from SAF, then they could again get him “on the cheap”. While they might have broken the bank to get him (and we’re clearly talking world record fee here), they might just consider giving a bit less, knowing that the balance might shift in their favour.
This “bit less” can amount up to easily 15 million £, or 1 or 2 players in the balance as part exchange. Just my thoughts.
About Ruud, Craig.. For a player of 29, the performance he came up with at Real clearly shows he wanrranted a much bigger transfer fee. We’re not talking about a very good striker here, Ruud was just simply world-class.
Oh, and anyone ever notice the fact that Kluivert was born on the very same day, same year as RvN. One’s struggling to find a decent team to play with, and the other is the campione of Spain. :O
Like?
0 
0
[Nico]
Hargreaves was desperate to move to United, that didn’t stop us from paying well over the odds for him.
Fact is despite what Ronny wants United still have the upper hand because he’s signed up on a lengthy contract with us. Fergie would rather keep him for another season than sell him for much less than his market value. The difference between the instances you quoted (Beckham, RvN, Heinze) and Ronaldo is that the manager does not want to sell Ronny.
Like?
0 
0
wow, these guys rate manu quite highly dont they,
link.
Like?
0 
0
Nico, there’s no way, even if Ronaldo explicitly states he will start scoring won goals five times a game for us, that he will go on the cheap. Even if he wanted to leave we would still be in a position where we could just say no to both him and Real. If he leaves this summer, or even next, it’ll be for a world record fee, probably around £70 million but more likely to involve players.
Even if we wanted to sell him, we’d still be able to get a damn good price. Plus, we could always tell Ronney to break his legs in training before the transfer. Or do like the scousers to Gerrard and make Ronaldo an offer he can’t refuse.
Like?
0 
0
Guys come on – that girl looks exactly what’s right for Ronaldo. She’s naughty like a mf, and who wouldn’t want to do her? Good for you, Ronaldo.
Nico QB and everyone else who think we should go for Quaresma – He’s no where near United potential. He’s the most overrated player in a long time, and buying him would be a disaster. Luckily I think, SAF thinks the same, and we’ll never see him here.
Like?
0 
0
Yeah I have nothing against Ronaldo’s taste in women lookswise….she is stunning. Im sure she is mostly interested in his money and the celebrity but if he is content with a trophy girlfriend/wife fair play to the lad. But I am sure she can wrap him round her little finger and if they get engaged or married and she wants to move to Spain he’ll do it.
On the Real issue, I think Real are under the illusion that buying Ronaldo will convert them from a team that can just about win a fairly easy Spanish league (especially since Barcelona have been in free-fall) and consistently crash out early on in the Champions League into world beaters, and driven by this they can be convinced to pay over the odds especially if we are able to get Ronaldo to stay if they do not meet our valuation. If we can get some of their best players such as Ramos and Robinho as part of the deal (or even Diarra who I wanted us to sign a few years back) that is even better. Pulling a figure out of the air how about 70 million.
With 70 million we could get two or three world class players who could improve two or three positions significantly. We’d also have our regular transfer budget to spend to add a couple more players. We’d be less of a one-man team and that is what Id prefer, because form does not last forever and excellent as Ronaldo is sooner or later his form will dip (or he will get injured) and so long as our team is built around him, when that happens we will really really really suffer
Like?
0 
0
Hmm you’re probably right that we’ll still get a huge fee for Ronnie if the transfer went through.
But its just that I don’t remember us selling a great player recently for his true market value. Heck even Jaap Stam was sold on the cheap.
So I guess its more a matter of whether the player in question is in Fergie’s good books.
Like?
0 
0