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
- Roy Keane sings a song for Ronaldo
- Nothing of Significance as Silly Season Continues
- Ronaldo is really two humans in one body
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (479)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@michael: On Ronaldo, I agree that it’s the wrong time to sell. As you say, with lots of time left on his contract, we should be in no hurry at all.
He’s also a vital part of the clubs development over the next few years. With a squad full of young, potential starlets, we need a productive corps du esprit to carry the load until the youngsters come of age. The blooding of Ando and Rafael (because of need), has done nothing to help their developmenmt at all, and could quite possibly send Ando on his way!
The alternatives to scrapping the whole youth movement thing, and buying big if Ronaldo leaves, is almost unbearable to think about – and that’s only assuming the Glaziers will finance such a move!!
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I didn’t mean that Hargreaves has disappointed me as a person in any way. Just that I’m sad a clearly good player is having his career derailed by injury and frustrated that it’s happening after we paid big money for him. I hope he gets better, but it has been the same problem getting worse for two years (or longer?) now. So I don’t hold out much hope for him as a consistent starter, even if he does get to the level where he can play 30 games a season. Fingers crossed that he’s alright but we have to act on the basis that he could be unavailable for long periods of time even if he recovers again.
Players of his mental and technical qualities and winning experience are rare and when fit he’s a huge asset. But we need a replacement. I can’t think of anyone, except perhaps Moutinho. He seems to at least have a disregard for his own safety so he would relish the Premeirship, and he could grow in to something special. Anyone got any ideas?
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@Grognard: What was the news coming out? Did we sign someone?
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So, no Hargo…that’ll have been a full year since his surgery, which when you put it that way doesn’t sound so terrible. It’s Fergie/Hargo’s own fault for not agreeing to get it done last summer instead. It’s not like he was needed at the Euros! I now seriously wonder if he’ll ever play again. He strikes me as the kind of consumate professional that would kill himself in rehab and then training – so if he isn’t recovering now, he won’t. A bitter blow.
So indeed, our midfield needs some new blood – again massively dissapointed by this. Scholes shouldn’t play at CMF anymore, his one decent showing against fulham aside, he’s just not at the level anymore. Giggs is alright in a 3-man midfield, but even he goes missing for large chunks of matches. Which leaves Carrick, Ando, Fletch and maybe Gibson, depending on how you rate him. Now if I were Gibbo, I would be running my ass off all summer to try and get my fitness to ridiciulous levels, and then come into preseason doing my best hargreaves impresonation. If he can convince the gaffer that he has the energy and drive to be a ‘destructive’ midfielder, maybe we won’t have to break the ole bank. Given that’s unlikely to happen, we have to buy. And I honestly have no idea who I want. Other than Michael Essien – but we know that’s not going to happen. We’ve seen what happens when Fergie goes cheap (Djembax2, Kleberson) and I just can’t think of anyone in the prem that we’d be able to get that would be good enough. Maybe we could pinch Gareth Barry from under the scousers noses? Don’t know.
The other option is to not have a player of that ilk in our team. In 06/07 we were a very good team playing two CMFs and using our attacking threat to keep teams at bay. Certainly for our attackers to be at their best they appear to need more support than 3 isolated at the top. Barcelona essentially play with a front 5, but their midfielders have the legs and positional sense to get back and help out when needed. It would be nice to think we could manage that kind of fluidity, but I’ve not seen it yet.
So yeah, depressing start to the day!
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@Beachryan: Dude the news isn’t even confirmed…..
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@ DRD – Fair enough, but it does sound entirely plausible. Then again, he was apparently kicking a ball with the lads in training before the CL final, so maybe it’s a whole lot of newspaper selling and not a whole lot of truth. Perhaps it’ll force Fergie/Owen to come out and say something about how his rehab is going!
What I do know is that if he is out til January, we can’t buy Tevez, as the midfield is more important.
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@Grognard: But that’s exactly what you do! And it’s not like anyone’s opinion is worth more than anyone else’s, just who is the most persistent in their posting.
And anyway, what I said was 100% true
There is only one opinion that truly matters, and he keeps picking Anderson.
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Next season we need to to re group and take take stock. Regardless of some peoples opinion we had a superb season two pots in the cabinet (I do not count the other one) So where to go next?
To me it is obvious, time for the new crop to have their opportunity, we have in the past had a tremendous history with young players from the Busby Babes to the Fergie Fledglings and onto the Golden generation.
We could have a season of transition, the old guard no matter how well they have done need to stand down gracefully, to preserve their status as true legends, they have been superb but a watershed is needed. It does piss me off some of the comments on this site about Nev, Giggs and Scholes and people should repect what they have done for this great club, but time waits for no man.
I do not want any signings in the summer, we have a crop of youth with Macheda, Welbeck, the Twins, Possebon, Evans, Petrucci, Nani, Anderson, Cathcart, Gibson, Tosic, Da Laet as just examples. We have done this before when we sold Hughes, Ince and Kanchelskis and it worked out rather well and I believe we need to do the same this summer.
Barca had seven players who came through their youth system playing in the final and it showed, their understanding was immense and their desire and loyalty also showed.
We are £700m in debt, and rumours are we need to sell, so why not to secure the future of the club in more ways than one, play the prospects we have comming through? Yes we might regress for a season or so, but sometimes you have to go backwards to leap forwards and with this talent already at the club, why not?
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Damn I was resting my hopes on a reinvigorated midfield led by Hargreaves. But I agree that with an injury this serious there is no way he’ll ever be able to be more than a bit part player. We need a big big central midfield signing to play alongside Carrick. Anderson and Fletcher are squad rotation players at best, and Giggs and Scholes need putting out to pasture.
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Stephen, I like your sentiments about bringing youth through but we do not really have any super talents the same way we did in 1995. Fabio, Rafael, Welbeck, Macheda……and that is about it! There is no-one capable of stepping up to fill our weak central midfield. Gibson hasn’t impressed me, neither has Possebon, Tosic from what everyone says is average at best, and Anderson and Nani do not look like the future world class players they were billed as when we splashed 30 million on the pair of them.
We need to buy some players who can walk into our team from day one and make a difference especially in midfield. Our defence is ok and just needs to get its confidence back and Brown will greatly strengthen it. Players like Berbatov will improve if we sort out the midfield. After all at Barcelona we had £150 millions worth of attacking talent on the field for half the game and didn’t score a single goal. That should tell us that we need to give our midfield a serious make-over especially now Hargreaves is gonna be out for even longer
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Looks like Gareth Barry is in talks as we speak with Citeh. Who does that leave?
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@colver: You maybe right, but with Fletcher and Carrick in there we do have some decent talent with Gibson, Possebon and KlebAnderson as back ups. We don’t know about Possebon or Gibson to a degree, KlebAnderson is a player who I simply don’t rate but you never know, especially with younger players how they develop.
this does depend on the formation, if we play 4-4-2 then we are Ok but if we play 4-3-3 then we are short in quality in there. But buing top class midfield players isn’t easy or cheap and there is not a lot out there.
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@Traverse: He is overrated and over priced.
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@Stephen: So who isn’t overrated or overpriced, but is for sale? Name one.
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@Traverse: I would rather Scott Parker than Gareth Barry, would be a third of that price and is about as good.
Flamini who is younger and would also be a lot cheaper.
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@Stephen: Scott Parker?! Are you his agent? To say Barry is rubbish and then present Scott Parker as a better player is laughable.
Flamini isn’t a bad shout, but considering most people think Carrick led footed, Flamini has always looked a lot slower when I’ve seen him play
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@Traverse: Er no, I am not saying sign him but he is no worse a player than Barry, a lot cheaper that was my point, paying £18m for Barry is more laughable.
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@Traverse: The only thing with Flamini is that he is a a physical player, Barry is a five yard square pass merchant flamini is not afriad to get stuck in, as Nani will remember!! an area we need without Hargo, he would also not cost the earth, like De Rossi.
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@Stephen: Barry is off for £10mil, which in current markets I believe constitutes a bit of a bargain for a 27 year old international who keeps Carrick out of the England team.
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@Stephen: Flamini is definitely more of a Hargreaves than Barry is, but Flamini is a world champion moaner. He was first on the team sheet at Arsenal and still complained he felt undervalued and then left on a free. We’ve had enough of that at Old Trafford over the last season to last the next 10.
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@Traverse: Barry is 28 and is 29 in Feb, Carrick is a better player than him.
We paid over the odds for Carrick but it was an area we were desperate in and also he was 24 when we signed him.
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RedDevilEddy knows that when RedDevilEddy speaks the whole world listens to RedDevilEddy, as RedDevilEddy is the master of the planet earth.
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@Traverse: @Stephen: Fuck both Barry and Parker, Djemba-Djemba is for sale! Who needs those two when Djemba-Djemba, Barton and Savage are available for less than £30 million?
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I miss Forlan, Kleberson and Veron…
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My keys wont fit in the Ocean!
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@RedDevilEddy: We have Anderson!!
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@RedDevilEddy: SHIT!! Here’s a blank cheque… write ANY amount!
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@Stephen: Anderson looks like the Jamaican Homer Simpson!
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@RedDevilEddy: He plays like him!
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One good reason Ronaldo would not leave is because he enjoys the attention he is getting in the papers during off-season. Once he completes his ‘Dream’ move, he gets fuck-all from then on unless he wins the treble in La Liga. And if Real’s still as fucked as ever or aka always, will he dream another ‘Dream’?
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@Stephen: Homer Simpson did play better than the Brasillian Ronaldo in an episode, so I will take that as a compliment! Tevez will be the next Messi.
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@Darth Red Diablo: I was just responding to the news that Hargreaves wouldn’t be back until 2010. So it’s time to spend some money in my opinion and get a midfielder of world class caliber. It really bugs me that we cannot afford 12 million for a Gareth Barry. Barry is not my ideal solution but at 12 million, hardly a bank breaker. Instead Shitty just stole him and I must say good for them because Liverpool didn’t get him. Rafa must be pissed because last season he was offering over 20 million for him and O’Neill wouldn’t budge. That’s sticking it to the fat waiter Marty. Way to go.
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@Traverse: And you go on believing that mate if it helps you get through the day.
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i hope no last min signings
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@ROOOOONEY: I too hope we get our business done early, and go into a season with our team sorted, beginning to gel and concentrating on the first 5 games for once, rather than dragging our business out till 11:55 on deadline day.
Hughes looks like he’s getting on with it after signing Barry already.
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@Stephen: Mate, there is a very small window of opportunity this club has with Alex Ferguson as the manager. He will be stepping in down in a year or two and so it is imperative that this club maximize it’s potential in that period. To be honest, I have a sneaky suspicion that once Fergie leaves, this club may go pear shaped if it is still under the control of the Glazer’s. Fergie keeps the ship afloat and running on full power. But Fergie needs to add new blood to what has become a very stale outfit. This club is no longer jelling in a manner that you can predict great improvement. Sure we won the league this season as well as two other cheap useless trophies but we struggled in many aspects of our game and only our experience and grit got us through.
I find it completely inconceivable that anyone who is affiliated with the club or that is a hard core supporter of the club can actually come out and say that nothing is wrong and go on with the status quo? And yet that is what you are advocating. You are counting on the fact that you believe that our reserves, our young players are so good that they can come into the team and basically elevate us into a better side than we are already?
Well I’m not here to say that couldn’t happen but what I will say is that it is very unlikely. They could slowly make their dent over a period of three more years but like I said earlier, our window of opportunity under Ferguson is closing. The time is now.
Now is when we have to act aggressively and buy a few world class player to fill the weak gaps in our starting eleven. Anderson, Possebon and Gibson are not the immediate answer to our central midfield question. Park, Nani are not the answer to our winger problem either. We need to fill these spots with quality players. And if Tevez goes, then do we also go out for a striker? Well we know that Fergie wants Benzema but I am pretty certain that Benzema does not want Fergie or United. Only at striker am I willing to say let some of our youth make the big step forward. I am perfectly happy with a strike force of Bebratov, Rooney and both Macheda and Welbeck. But the midfield needs a general and a creative one at that. Hargo will not be retunring on time it seems and even if he was, I feel we need a midfielder with pace and skill t help create more chances and to also keep the Iniesta’s and Xavi’s of the world from destroying us. And believe me, Anderson and the rest of our central midfielders are not going to miraculously improve overnight to prevent what happened on May 27th from ever happening again. It’s time for us all to realize that this team needs new blood and experienced quality blood at that. And it’s most important that Fergie realize that and that the Glazer’s open their coffers to allow him the necessary funds that it will take to secure the players that will never allow us to be humiliated like that again. Somehow though, I wouldn’t count on it.
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Possible solution to the Ronaldo sution for me is send him to madrid on a one year loan only if he sighns a 1 year contract extention. Evreyone wins, manutd would probaly generate 20 million for a one year loan off him(tevez was 10 million for 2 so…) ronaldo will get to see if madrid is the real thing or if he was just idealizing it and he will come back with a difinitive answer also madrid will get ronaldo for a year.
i know this would never happen but thats my suggestions.
Also if use are on about DMC how about miguel veloso what happend to him or a sneaky bid for lassna diarra or wind up levy by saying palacios.
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@Stephen: Flamini right now would not be a bad choice although I myself am not a fan and hate all ex Arsenal players. But is he fancied by Fergie? I don’t think he is. He also struggled to beat out Pirlo and old man Gattuso at Milan and so that doesn’t speak well for him in terms of recent form. Still, he is that CDM we are in great need of.
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btw MUTV said that owen’s injury is just paper talk but we still need a world class midfielder
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@Traverse: Scott Parker????? I agree mate. But also, what exactly is a Scott Parker? Is he flora or fauna?
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@Traverse: Well I think he got a real humbling dose of reality at Milan. I’m sure he would jump at the bit to return to England and start for a team like United rather than sit on the bench in Milan.
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Red Ranter. Time for a new thread because this one is getting slow and is hanging every time I enter a post. Very frustrating.
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@RedDevilEddy: Now you’re talking mate. The Three Stooges are all available. Go for it Fergie!
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@Stephen: Yes we do. The fourth Stooge.
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@Stephen: Duh!
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@Grognard: Flamini would be perfect, bet fergie doesnt even consider him though. I wouldnt discount “old man” gattuso though, hes still an excellent player and i would settle for him or another oldie in senna.
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guys i know this probably wont get a great reaction but what about Djibril Cisse as a cheap part time stiker
he has a decent scoring record, we could get him cheap/on loan and would be good back up, plus he would probably be happy enough to sit on the bench .
just a thought
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@Grognard: I recently mentioned Flamini as a possible addition to our ever gritless midfield, my mate just rebuked me. I reckon he’ll come relatively cheap, say 10-12 million. Lets face it, he brought out the best in Fabregas.
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@Duffstuff: Call your doctor 1st thing in the morning, you need medical help
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rumor kaka joining madrid is a done deal
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