May 29
Perez would ‘welcome’ Ronaldo — that’ll be £70m, thank you.
Prior to the Champions’ League final Ronaldo went on a PR crusade doing interviews affirming his decision to stay on at United. “Manchester is my home”, he would say. He even did a spoof interview, where he interviews himself with a choice selection of canned questions that journalists are wont to ask. Has his Real Madrid dream really ended?
Following our defeat to Barcelona, he went back to his old ways. “I don’t know about my future. My future is with the national team”.
There seems to be something brewing in Madrid. Florentino Perez, the president elect by default, has tried to distance himself from Ronaldo because he doesn’t want to be seen as carrying out the groundwork laid by Ramon Calderon, but more importantly, he obviously considers the sum — £70m reportedly agreed last December — a bit much considering his plan to bring a lot of stars to his side. He’s distanced himself until yesterday when he claimed he would welcome Ronaldo to Madrid. Of course he’s surely going to play hardball here by trying his best to get him at a price lower than the one agreed.
I am sick and tired of the Ronaldo saga, as much as he’s an outstanding player — I can’t let myself nod my head slavishly while he continues to treat a lot of people like shit.
Wednesday’s humbling gave Ferguson a few thoughts to chew over; just as he claimed he learned a lot from the humbling at Milan. Defeat tends to bring the best out of him and it could mean a freshening of approach in his side. If that means selling a player, however outstanding he may be, to save everyone’s sanity, then this is the deal he should go for.
I have my own selfish reasons for this: I want to be free from being subject to another tiresome saga in the summer. Perez, you can have Ronnie for £70m. Just give it and you’ll be golden.
Something tells me it won’t be quite as simple.
Related items from Red Rants:
- David Gill gets top role
- links for 2010-01-19
- Nothing of Significance as Silly Season Continues
- Roy Keane sings a song for Ronaldo
- Ronaldo is really two humans in one body
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (89)
Craig Mc (26)
Ian (18)
@Grognard: You might be right but it would be marvellous if at least some of the lads got a chance and broke into the side, the twins certainly have the potential as does obviously Macheda and Evans.
Why sign for example Banzema when Macheda could be the solution already, also people post such comments like “we need to sign a world class midfielder” like that is simple?!? Also all I said about Parker he is no worse than Barry
I think people need to get real sometimes, there is a world wide reccession on we are £700m in debt, we probably won’t sign Ribery as we cannot afford him unless Ronnie goes, I also am not saying you have said this but we need to take stock of what we have have and need, and really a centre mid is the only priority.
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No wonder our lot played a lazy, limp arsed performance in the CL, the LAZY GITS can’t even manage to change their own light bulbs. What a bunch of big girls blouses – sad saps
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@Stephen: Oh well, sounds like you don’t mind then if our lot finish outside of the top 4 next season. Please don’t scoff and think it is impossible, everybody else seems to be strengthening. United past shareholders – the greedy gits who sold out to Glazer, who saddled us with a mountainous debt, which renders us UNABLE TO COMPETE for the very best players. So it is not unreasonable to think we may finish outside top 4.
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@WhiteY: I wouldn’t call Fletcher gritless, not the answer but not gritless far from it.
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@Craig Mc: With Rooney, Ronaldo, Carrick, Vidic, Berba, Hargo, Fletch, Evra, Nani, ect that will not happen, oh I forgot you don’t win anything with kids.
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kaka joining madrid!!?!
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@Mr.Muhozi: Those cunts at Real Madrid are some annoying bitches! I mean, what kind of club with dignity would spend over £60 million on just one player? And we all know Shitty dont have any dignity, so no surprise there.
I personally dont care wether Kaka moves to Madrid or not, but it might prove briliant for Uniteds part.
Reason 1. Now that Real have spent so much money on jsut one player they will definately not get Ronaldo or Villa. Neither do they have the money, neither will they be dumb enough to make mistakes they have done earlier. At least I think so…
Reason 2. For all our crap against Cristiano, at least he is being honest. Kaka, for all his talk about never wanting to leave Milan, now scams off to Real for moneys sake. Ronny has been honest, saying nothing but Old Trafford being his current home, that he loves it there and that he doesnt know about the future. I bet we all would be pissed at him if he said “I will never leave United”, for then to just fuck off to another club just weeks/months later. So credit to Cristiano, that all.
Reason 3. We all know Real go out every summer to but the best talents in the world(former talents I must add). But they arent the richest club in the world, and they dont have the money to go for more players. This may stop and start many transfers this summer.
Kaka to Chelski=off
Ronaldo to Real=off
Villa to Real=off
Ribery to Real=off
Ribery to United=on
VDV, Huntelaar and Sneijder moving=on
And som on. Looks like it may become an interesting summer…
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@Grognard: Bite your tongue regarding Tim Vickery, he is one of the most knowledgable yet humble journalist out there in the english speaking world.
SPeaking of journalist have you evet thought about that for you? You are a strong writer and very knowldgable about sports, and Im assuming war as well. From my viewpoint, the sports world loves people with strong opnions who refuse to sit on the fence. you should look into it, if you havent already.
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another rumor that tevez is set for city too
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I’m sick and tired of people buying into all the crap REAL says. We simply can’t afford to sale Ronaldo now. No one in our squad can replace him and Bayern would play hard ball with Ribery. I can’t see Fergie letting him go now. No chance.
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@RedDevilEddy: Kaka told City to fuck off after Milan themselves accepted the offer. So credit to him.
Kaka was followed by Madrid this time and Milan accepted an offer about 60% of City’s offer. It’s obvious Milan don’t value him as much as they used to in the past. They aren’t nearly as determined to hold onto their asset as we were when we tried to keep Ronaldo. Kaka kept quiet and did the thing a player contracted to his club should — say the right things. Ronaldo played the media and continues to do so. So sorry mate, that argument doesn’t fly with me.
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@RedDevilEddy: And your other point about Real won’t spend money on more players, don’t be naive. They will go for both Ribery and Ronaldo. Where they get the money, you ask? Well they take out loans through unknown sources and get into debts and the great/corrupt Spanish government subsidises their debts on tax payer money. Ask any non Real Madrid supporter in Spain why they hate that club so much and they’ll give you a list that will be enough to cover the circumference of the earth. What sickens me is when Platini goes after English clubs for having debt he gives Real a clean chit when they have equal or more debt — which they cover up after much fudging of numbers.
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@Red Ranter: I guess you know more about this than I do, but the way Real get money is disgraceful! Isnt a club supposed to get money only from what the club does itself, not the government?
I will truly be surprised if they do have enough money, or get the money, to buy both Ribery and Ronaldo. I thought only the Shitting Sheiks had that kind of money these days, with the financial crisis and all… 
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@RedDevilEddy: Again, upon reading your comment, I see it appears wrong-er and wrong-er.
I’ve just said in my above 2 replies that your reasons 1 and 2 aren’t valid enough. Now let me respond to reason 3,
David Villa will not move out of Spain. He will move to either Barca or Real. But if Valencia’s situation improves Villa might yet stay on at Valencia — from all accounts he seems to be unlike the sterotypical modern footballer in lifestyle. Ribery to Real is certainly on and so is Ronaldo to Real. I don’t know how a bidding war between Real and United would work, throw in Man City and you’ll see a major price bump, and only if Ribery shows City the finger would the price come down.
The only plausible case in your argument is the exodus of Dutchmen, and again, we have to compete with a whole host of top clubs in Europe. We have a tough and tricky summer ahead of us.
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@Red Ranter: Hehe, Im just throwing rumours or thoughts in the air here!
I agree that Villa seems like a very shy guy, wanting to have a secure life without too much glam and such. But for me he is the perfect striker, and if he joined United I would run down the street butt naked and upload it on Youtube so its there for all to see. He is my dream signing, so Im allowed to hope on that. 
Other than that, as you know Im only a hopeful!
So even though my comment may be wrong, it could have been correct in a perfect world. When am I gonna realise that we dont live in one? 
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@RedDevilEddy: Again, I don’t have too much insight about this, but here’s an example of how Perez funded his last Galacticos programme.
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@Red Ranter: Alright then, but I still gotta say that I think its better for us fans to at least have an idea of what might happen, instead of getting a smack in the face. Still think Kaka is a good guy, might not have come out in my comment, but I still think he shouldnt have said he never will to leave just days before his transfer… But of cource we dont know what happens behind the scenes! But it saddens me if Kaka really ahs joined Real. My cousin is a Milan fan and Kaka is his favorite player, so that will crush him.
Not only am I sad for him, but for myself cause now I cant play Kaka in my FIFA 09 team. You see, Ive made a promise to myself that I never will have a Real Madrid player in my team. Not even Casillias!
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Hello?
Anybody out there?! 
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OH NO!!! Im the last man on earth!
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@johnsom33: Thanks for the compliment mate but my opinionated perspective is why I don’t much like Vickery. I find he sits on the fence far too much and makes every two bit South American flash in the pan sound like a potential Maradona. He knows his South American scene but he has often talked about players he thought would be immense but who were failures who never made it to Europe.
As for me writing, I have always felt that was out of my reach because not too many would take the opinions of a Canadian when discussing the great game. We are all thought to be nothing more than hockey pucks over here.
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@Stephen: Actually for big teams singing a world class player is easy. They just have to dish out the money. Problem with United since the Glazer’s took over is we think big but our wallet is small.
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@RedDevilEddy: Real have a lot more to spend than we do mate. A hell of a lot more.
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@Keith Kaira II: You are absolutely correct. Real and Marca are trying to upset the applecart in hopes that it instigates a scenario where Ronaldo and Ferguson have a parting of the ways. They know that this kind of stuff is designed to get Ronaldo into the dreaming state and they hope that he then forces the move. But Fergie doesn’t play that game and he will only sell Ronaldo when he already has his replacement in place, not before.
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@Grognard: That’s a bit unfair on Vickery. Every scout or pundit who works out of South America predicts that kids will be the next big thing. What happened to Kerlon? Most of the brightest prospects don’t make it, and most of the time it’s not because they didn’t have the skill but they got lazy or simply stopped improving. Many “prodigies” simply have physical advantages over their peers who later catch up. Tim Vickery’s a good journalist, and he writes better than most.
By the way, after watching a ton of Huntelaar videos I suddenly want him in the team. I’ve never really liked him before but he’s just so damn lethal (his ability to nick ahead of a defender is exceptional. Phenomenal timing!) that he could be what we need to set Rooney back in his old ways, harrying around behind a “proper” number 9.
He doesn’t really bring any kind of flexibility though. Still, if we could get him for under £15 million and if he’d be happy with 25-30 games then he could be a great purchase, and if he flops some promotion team can spend big money on him in a few years.
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@michael: Oh my God! You have GrognoHuntersytosis! Get to the doctor mate! PRONTO! Cause your next comment would be that Anderson is shite!
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@michael: We don’t need flexibility mate, we need goals. Huntelaar would be just what the doctor ordered but I still feel we need a central midfield that balances our attack and takes pressure off our wingers.
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@Darth Red Diablo: So it’s come to this has it? Once a loyal apprentice and now a dark traitor labeling those who are with my dark ways. Make sure you adjust your hair to cover those horns that are beginning to grow.
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@Grognard: Our wallet has been good we spent £36m on Nani and Anderson, we have spent £30m on Berba, £18m on Hargo you cannot complain about the allocation of cash, just as usual we have over spent on certain players.
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@Grognard: Huntelaar would be ideal in so many ways, goals being one of them.
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I don’t really get the Real plan. Let’s say they succeed with all 3 of their ‘big’ buys, how would their formation work:
——–Casillas——–
-Ramos-Pepe-???—????–
—-Diarra—Guti——-
-Ronaldo–Kaka—Ribery-
——Higuain/Raul——
That’s way to unbalanced, especially as Guti is crap. And where will it leave the dutch players? Robben on his day is as good as anyone, VDV, Sneijder…all very good players!
I think they get Ribery and kaka, and don’t bother with Ronaldo.
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@Beachryan: Who cares, fuck them.
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@Beachryan: If Real were to get all those players (which they most certainly not), they have tremendous unbalance but remember that in order to buy as heavily as they are indicating, they will have a massive fire sale. van Nistelrooy, Huntelaar, Sneijder, van Der Vaart, Robben, Metzelder, Heinze etc will all be on the selling block. After they have sold most of them, then they might actually try to poach a few defenders from other teams. Bottom line, is they are completely revamping their squad as they can see they are not even close to being in Barcelona’s class. Perez wants to recapture his previous era with the club where he built the first Galacticos team with Zidane, Figo and Ronaldo.
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