Jun 23
Should United Bet on Ronaldinho?
I know this question has been posed before, but I think it deserves a separate space of it’s own. [Why you ask? Because I think it does!]
On a day where the likes of Zizou have jumped in on the Ronaldo should go to Madrid bandwagon I’d rather sidestep Ronaldo talk for a day and talk about some transfer targets. So today, it’s Ronaldinho for me.
The reason I brought him up is because, the Brazilian superstar has given an interview to TV Globo and spoke of his desire to get back from his rehabilitation and, in essence, prove a point to the world. In his interview he welcomed a move to the Premiership. Here are some excerpts:
Every player would love to play in such a competitive championship like the English league. I’m happy because almost all the teams want me to play for them. I’m [also] very happy for him (Scolari). I admire him a lot and I hope he can make all his dreams come true. I wish him well.”
Also regarding his problems he had this to say:
“When a lot of problems come together, the whole team is not well and players find it difficult to shine. I’m as upset as my team-mates for not playing well. The lack of titles let us down even more. Now I am recovered. Everything is perfect and I’ve started a new stage in my rehabilitation. I want to profit from these holidays to return as soon as possible to achieve my dreams of becoming the world’s best player and playing in the world’s best team. And moreover, I want to be world champion with the Selecao again, that’s my objective.”
“The gold medal is a title Brazilian football has not achieved yet and all players dream of making history by clinching that medal. The Olympics are one of my dreams. I want to schedule my recovery and train hard to be in the national team as soon as possible.”
So he seems quite determined to get back on track. Party lifestyle apart, he’s also been troubled by muscle injuries for a good part of the last year which was never treated. Now that he’s rehabilitating, if he is even half as serious as he comes across in the interview, I’d put my money on him. The question remains: is Fergie interested in buying him? Not just that, would he still be interested in coming to United for one final hurrah? I’ve always been of the opinion that more than a party lifestyle, it was the lack of leadership in the Barcelona dressing room — Rijkaard seemed a bit too laid back for my liking — that allowed things to deteriorate. I think Ronaldinho’s talents and pace are far from finished at 28 years of age and if he can give us a solid three seasons he would slot right in if Ronaldo were to leave.
Given his recent past, his value couldn’t be any lower. It could also be the realisation of Fergie’s dream to finally sign him — where Peter Kenyon botched it then. It must be said, though, that if United were to come into the market for Ronaldinho, it won’t be City but Kenyon’s Chelsea who could snatch him from us in the wake of Scolari’s appointment.
At the end of the day, I loved Ronaldinho, and was really cursing our luck when he was wowing the world at Barcelona.
Hence my question to you all…
So what do you think? Is Ronaldinho worth a punt? Do you think Fergie can get the best out of him?
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Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (485)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
Ryan I think you are right mate, we should do the same to Berbatov.
Look on the brightside Bolton say they are going to sign Saha for a record fee, good player what I can remember of him. How about Drenthe youg has had apoor season but looked really good in the under 21′s?
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JB: If we did get the side looking a bit like that then Ronaldo will be yesterdays news. Exciting times ahead im sure.
Ramos in a recent interview gave off the opinion that maybe he would consider a move to us so if Real want Ronaldo bad enough something has got to give.
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Ronaldinho is class, and I could easily see him running around at OT for the remainder of his career. He’s got so much to offer, and frankly, speaking in monetary terms, he wouldn’t hurt us either.
But first of all, he’d be a great player for us, once he adapts to our style of play. Remember how he played 4-5 years ago. He was so quick and explosive in his moves. If he could get that back with the right fitness coach, he’d be a bargain at £20 mil.
Only problem is that we can’t play the 4-4-2 system with him and Ronaldo (or whoever we put there – yes maybe with Park), which means, we’d be playing the lone striker system, for which we really don’t have anyone suitable. Where would it leave Rooney and Tevez?
Don’t think we’re going for him, even though it would be spectacular.
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I think its a step back, Ronaldo is an up and coming superstar and probably hasn’t hit his prime yet. I say this knowing full well what he did this past season and while his scoring is unbelievable he is still growing in the other parts of the game to become a complete player.
Ronaldinho I think we all can agree is past his best. He is coming back from a torrid year at Barca and has been injured for the majority of there campaign. Ronaldinho however was close to signing for United and with the recent influx of Portuguese speaking talent to United it might be a good decision.
Where would he play? He could go on that left side play a similar style to what we did this year, except instead of Ronaldo on the right you have RR on the left.
Here is the biggest problem for this transfer, it hurts what we have. Nani played well at the Euro’s and should have started over Simao who had an awful tournament. If we bring in RR we cripple Nani’s left winger development which is crucial to the longevity of the squad. RR is a quick fix, not a permanent one. Lets get some more youngsters in, as we have with the Brazilian twins and the Roma prodigy. Lets bring in a new right midfielder, new striker, and a new right back and continue on…life goes on without Ronaldo. As we did when RVN and Becks left for Madrid. That turned out well for United. We have one the Champions League since 2004, Madrid have not.
Oh, if we do sign Ronaldinho I have no doubts Fergie will put United into a formation that will be successful. I have to agree with JB a free flowing position has always been RR’s best and could even play him more central behind Tevez and Rooney.
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Just thinking of the players we have which i left out of the starting line up and subs -
Kuzsiack
Neville
Silvestre
Evans
O’Shea
Simpson
those brazillian twins!
Fletcher
Eagles
Possebon
Park
Saha
Manucho
Campbell
Wellbech
im sure i’ve missed more, like Dong, but we have a mamouth squad to be fair!!
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Tomas, that was 4-5 years ago, 2-3 injuries ago, he is a diff. player now and although he would be an exciting summer, would he really improve and replace Ronaldo, should we even replace Ronaldo? We were so dependent upon him to get us goals, if he played poorly we were in trouble. Do we want the same situation with a 28 year old Brazilian who hasn’t played a full season in 2 years? If we get him he has to part of a system, not the main focus of that system. If that makes any sense.
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Tomas: I think every united fan would take Ronaldinho if he was at the level he was 4/5 years back, he will never be the same player as he was then but he has the talent to be effective if he got himself straight. Just cant see it, if he does well next season at Man City for example we can then snap him the following season
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Some of the suggestions on here border on the fantasy. I really don’t belive we need to strengthen that much. 2 good players is all we need. Good 3rd striker and defender is all we need. Also time to give our back up goalies more game time.
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[Just1n]
Agreed.
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What is evrybodys opinion of mario gomez. I have friends who support stutgart and they say he is the real deal. He is a tall striker who apparantly leads the line, and is young. Would he be a good signing despite a very poor euro 2008 so far.
Another striker that noone has mentioned is adriano.
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Just1n, RR: thats fair enough and I agree that we need 1 defender and 1 striker BUT most of us are thinking about what happens if Ronaldo does go. Then we need at least 1 more player.
If he is sold do u still think we only need 1 striker and 1 defender?
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Matthew Adriano is a fat as he is tall these days a real has been, wasted talent.
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Matthew, Adriano is a fat as he is tall these days a real has been, wasted talent.
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Matthew – I brought up Adriano ages ago as a potential solution to our problems, but his temperament has to be a worry. The plus side is that when he’s on his game he is absolute world beater, and has it all pace, power, height, trickery a cannon for a left foot.
But not sure if he recovered after his mini breakdown or whatever. Personally I don’t think it’s worth the risk.
Maybe I’m being naive, but I do honestly believe we’ll be fine with replacing Ronaldo. 42 goals don’t just go away if you get rid of him, hopefully they’ll just be spread across the team a bit better. He did take all of the penalties and majority of free kicks, not to mention was a target man for corners. He’s the best player in the world, but one player does not a team make.
Hell we looked like true world beaters against Roma playing Tevez, Park, Fletcher and Hargreaves up front…
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I just read yesterday’s thread and would just like to add that i respect Grog’s views as always.We should not be overly optimistic as that would pass off as being a tad too overconfident.Honestly the faster we get some real transfer to OT the bettermyself,Grog and our likes will feel.Imagine Arsharvin signed for Arse tomorrow?That will definitely be heart wrenching for me.Truly sad.Fergie should come out with a strong statement,offloading Ronaldo and preparing fervently and SERIOUSLY to fend off imminen challenge from Cheski et al.This dilly dally about signind ‘the experienced striker ‘is frustrating really.I vote for Berbatov,and I cant understand why we are perpetually linked to a stiker who is not even at the EUROS and we cant clinch tthe deal.Blimey.I am expecting something concrete before the end of this week.Sign Berbatov,Arshavin,Vander Vaart.Sell Ronaldo,Poach Madrid for Robinho/Sneijer and lets CONQUER.
Grog
You have the RIGHT to be optimistically pessimistic.It shows your undying love for our great club.Please give us some info on the Croat kid
Ryan
Your team above,echos my innermost dreams.It almost feels like cheating ,lining that team up aginst say a Wigan.Truly awesome.
FERGIE
We the Fans of Our great club still HAVE FAITH in you.DONT LET US DOWN.
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[Ryan]
Essentially a striker who can finish, hold the ball up and head would solve our goalscoring troubles in the absence of Ronaldo. If we do have that target man, Rooney could play off him and our side would revolve around Rooney. Nani’s crosses would be met more often than not. As a matter of fact a back up left back would be more important than RB. But yes, I see your point and wouldn’t mind a winger.
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[whiteY]
I see where your desperation comes from, but those transfers are easier said than done, to be honest. And selling Ronaldo and heading into the transfer market will be more complicated than it appears.
Oh and what is optimistically pessimistic?
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Do we really need a another winger, I agree back up RB, Matt Taylor cheap and not bad, seems to have decent attitude.
We need pos one defender and one striker thats all.
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Red Ranter
I honestly feel this entire Ronaldo saga is having an ADVERSE effect on or PR.Imagine that?WE are European champions for petes sake.In my mind,I dont regard Ronaldo as our player anymore.Fergie needs to make things clear.We should sell and quick.Consider telling say Arshavin:Hey,we just sold this prick because we believing you and say Berbatov have the potential to take us to the next level alongside Rooney,Tevez,Carrick,Hargo and NANI,plus you deserve the no 7 shirt.What a plan,what a convincer.
Grog
Please break your silence and tell me what you make of David Silva
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I wouldn’t rule out sneijder. He says he doesn’t want to move, but that will change in a heart best when real tell him they don’t want him. I don’t know about robinho either way. He seems to have off the field issues, and not sure he could handle the physicality of the epl.
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[Ryan]
In all honesty i’m not to concerned with replacing Ronaldo. There is no like for like replacement and talking about Messi or Kaka are pipe dreams imo. Also a world class player will not fit as well as Ronaldo. Unfortunately there is no quick fix or like for like player. It took 3 years of poor team play and decisions from Ronaldo before he delivered these last 2 years. Fair play to him. He has become a wonderful footballer and now wants to move on. I’m not worried. Man Utd will survive. Nani and Anderson will get more game time. Tevez and Rooney will have more time to renew there partnership. Manucho is coming in and granted he is a unknown quantity but so was Vidic, Kanchelskis, Evra…and look how well they did. A front 3 of Tevez,Manucho and Rooney. Midfield of Anderson, Carrick, Nani, Hargo, Park,Scholes, Giggs, Fletch -any 3 or 4 depending on formation , and our back 4 which is unbelievably good. We will do well. We don’t need to spend. Remember to many stars can have a detrimental affect on the team and I stick to my original wishlist. 1 Striker and 1 Defender.
Remember Tevez and Rooney have enough tricks to unlock any defense and if they lay it on a platter for another striker to put it away then we will be fine as far as goals bearing in mind Nani will also score more and Park will weigh in as well. Goals will spread around the team of that I am certain.
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Seems L’Arse are after David Gill. Hopefully he tells them to stick it…
Also, as far as Defenders go, I think Lahm for £10million is a good deal considering he can play left back or right back..
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I agree with Beachryan, i also think that if ronaldo were to leave then we would compensate with the other players scoring more goals. Nani and anderson will get more playing time and will score more, hargreaves will most probably be our new free kick taker meaning more goals for him etc. I also was reading someone say that the 42 goals he scored was an amazing feat but was not the biggest reason why we won what we did. Put it this way the 2006/07 season roanldo scored 23 goals and we won the league and very nearly won the champions league. He added another 20 goals to his game last season, but are you saying that those extra 20 goals were the single reason we won both last year.
Put it this way, there is no other team in the world whose winger scores more than about 15 goals a season, but these teams have strikers who lead the line, and wingers who are more team players. Ronaldo going would not be as big a loss as if rooney were leaving.
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Is there any chance at all in the world that we could do a straight swap roanldo for messi. Ronaldo has more commercial appeal than messi but i know am living in a dream world.
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how about this?
EVDS
Sergio Ramos Vidic Ferdinand Evra
Robinho Carrick/Anderson/Hargreves Scholes Nani/Giggs
Rooney Tevez/Huntellar
Others- Kuczack, Foster, OShea, Fletcher, Brown, Neville, Manucho, Wellbeck
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Lahm for 20 million is also splendid. He is quite simply the best wingback in the world at the moment. Good temperament and also very versatile. He can fit into United ever so snugly.
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Regarding Ramos;
Has anyone suggesting we land him actually watched him play? He had an abysmal season with Real followed by a disastrous Euro ’08 campaign (So far). Every opportunity the Italians carved out last night was down his flank or as a result of one of his misplaced passes. I’ll take Red Wes any day of the week thank you.
(Anish – You’re right with Lahm, he is a quality player w/ fantastic work ethic, think he just signed a new deal though)
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Being honest Ramos and Sneijer seem very happy in Madrid I can’t see us getting either player or Casillas. We must be realistic about our potential targets, Berbatov, Huntelaar, even he seems focussed on a move to Real, and Van Der Vaart.
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[Jig]
You are correct. Ramos looked pants imo. EIther he is tired or overrated.
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Grognard, mate, please come back and post a lengthy comment and just start off a fresh debate
i absolutely love your comments and it is clearly evident from those comments that you really know what you’re talking about. You’ve still not offered your opinion on Rakitic and someone had even asked you about Altintop who played for Bayern. Now now I really dunno if one blogger frm this site can come out and say that they know abt Bayern more than you do… People like me visit these sites not only for entertainment but also for some football insight and knowledege,.
Please break your silence….
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I totally agree with someone like Berba we could still be a world-beating squad, even without Grease Lightning. But the only way I can see that is a 4-3-3, just like Ryan’s above:
———VDS———-
-Gary-Rio–Vidic-Evra-
——-Carrick——–
—Hargo–Ando/Scholes-
-Tevez/Nani–Rooney—
——Berbatov———
The problem I see with this is that it would inherently be narrow, and given that teams love to play stifling, pack the midfield games against us, I fear we wouldn’t be able to spread play enough. I don’t think that Rooney or Tevez are effective as true widemen, and that would mean, for me, we wouldn’t have a world quality 4-4-2 option:
———-VDS———-
-Gary-Rio–Vidic-Evra–
—Carrick-Ando/Scholes-
-Hargreaves?—-Nani—-
—Rooney/Tev-Berba—–
I guess Fletcher and Park can also do a job out on the right, but we would lack a true right ‘winger’ in the traditional sense.
But maybe that’s a luxury we don’t need?
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I have to agree with the ideas that we don’t need superstars if Ronaldo leaves. We need players to come in and fill a role. We will need a new winger if Ronaldo leaves, we need a clinical finisher, and a new right back. A right back if Ronaldo stays that can cross, and if he leaves one who can attack as well as defend. If Ronaldo does leave, Robinho could be a decent replacement on the right, but I worry about how his game would fit in the EPL. He won’t get the time to do what he wants on the ball.
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There is a good young player that i have heard rave reviews about called renato augusto a young brazilian kid. He is supposed to be rated very highly in brazil and like ronaldo is a winger who likes to drift inside into the striking option. Worth a punt.
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Can anyone say ‘bigger than the club’ You take one look at the likes of ronaldinho, etoo and the like and all you see are players with a big ego who just WONT be controlled. Everyone remembers the story of SAF heading over to sharpeys house when he was having a little non alcoholic get together (or so he claims) with giggsy present, ultimately letting rip with the mother of all hairdryer treatments and putting both lads in there place. Now imagine fergie walking into a downtown manchester brothel looking for his ‘latest’ goofy toothed signing and being utterly ignored. The players a liability, the money would be better spent elsewhere imo
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elsammio99 as you seem to be the only person on here just wanted to know who you think we should buy/get in exchange for ronaldo.
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We sure have some telepathy Red Ranter. Amid all the hoolah about Arshavin, I noticed that Ronaldinho is just an year elder to Arshavin. They would cost the same(Arshavin will probably cost more considering his current form) and you get a World Cup + Champions League winner in Ronaldinho. The guy still has talent – I remember some of his free kicks & movement on the pitch from the 2007-08 season.
The two major problems that I could see -
(1) Is Ronaldinho still motivated enough to play at the top ?
(2) His salary demands.
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If Berbatov were to arrive, I see something like ->
——VDS/Foster——
——Brown-Rio–Vidic-Evra——
——Carrick-Hargreaves——
——Tevez–Rooney—Nani——
——Berbatov——
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Alot of you are saying if Ronaldo goes we dont need to replace him which i find incredible. If Ronaldo leaves then a winger is a must. If not then we will be left with the inexperienced Nani, Giggsy who can only play half the games and Park who is a good squad member but is he really good/effective enough to start every week? Not in my opinion. Tevez and Rooney are not wide men.
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I was reading today on sky news that Asharvin has just declared his preference for La Liga, so i think that rules us off him.
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I like these dream teams. But seriously, why is everyone so quick to bench Tevez? The man had a fairly remarkable debut season, and his clutch contributions saved our asses and good on several occasions. Yes, he plays very similarly to Rooney, but I think we’re over analyzing things. Rooney and Tevez are both tireless workers and incredibly talented players. They can and have played brilliantly together. Good footballers with good attitudes play well together. This is not to say that I wouldn’t mind Berbatov, but I don’t think that we should automatically relegate our Argentine to the sidelines. If I was SAF he’d be on my team sheet everyday.
-ian-
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Krishnan and whiteY; Thanks for your support. Kind words are always appreciated, believe me, even if they make some others nauseated.
Sorry for the delay. The site was down for me until just now.
You asked about Rakitic and Hamit Altintop. Well here goes for what it’s worth. Rakitic for me is a highly skilled offensive midfielder who is very flexible in a lot of different positions and mature technically for his age. Schalke have used him as a holding midfielder, attacking midfielder, LMF/LW and he has even played LWB. His strength is not the defensive part of the game. The reason he is played occasionally in defensive positions is because he has good ball control, he can hold the ball and he has has pace and strong passing skills. For me his best position is as a LMF player where he can run and utilize his speed and very good passing skills while also cut in and shoot as he has a very strong and very accurate shot. Croatia has gone as far as to use him as a striker on occasion but that is not his strength. Even though he is not the best of tacklers, a holding midfield role similar to the kind Pirlo plays with Milan is also well suited for him. He holds the ball well but his passing and vision really works well for counters and a lot of 1/2 give and go passing schemes. I like him as a player but I don’t love him. For me he is a little soft and can disappear in a game especially against strong and physical opponents. But what makes him an interesting prospect is his tremendous passing ability, ability to score wonder goals and his age. He also is a very strong free kick and general set piece taker. A lot of his goals and near chances come from a very good bender from set pieces. He’s only 20 so he will improve. But in order to improve he needs to play for a better team than Schalke.
Hamit Altintop is also a very fine player but his biggest fault is his propensity to get injured and his ability to disappear in games. When he is on he has very good passing skills and ball control and a very good good hard shot. He is very good at set pieces but his defense for me is only average. He has decent pace and likes it when the offense goes through him. Doesn’t play as well when he is the third wheel in the midfield. He is actually very effective coming on as a substitute. His energy and creativity can often turn a game.
I don’t rate him as high as Rakitic but he is mature and refined at this stage in his career. If he could improve his consistency, he would be a regular starter and star for Bayern. There are days he is absolutely world class and days he couldn’t play for Bolton’s B Team.
Hope that is of help to you. Just an honest assessment as I see them. Not written in stone of course.
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He can finally “sign” for us. I think he will be great, he would fit in well, and I believe we need to give him a chance.
So if we give him a chance, we should not pay a lot for the transfer and his wages. I wish that was possible.
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Regarding Ronaldinho. Regardless of what he was as a player and what he has become, I just don’t want him and I don’t like him. I also think he has gotten fat, lazy and lost the fire and hunger for the game. Whether he is on the booze, drugs, affiliated with mobsters or is just over the hill, I don’t want him. That’s just my two cents worth. Arshavin may be similar in age but the lad has fire in his belly and and his current form is outstanding with pace. A no brainer for me except for the fact Chelsea want him and for a Russian he has a taste for the Spanish. Go figure.
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yea, i agree with grognard to be honest, i dont want at united at all.
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This new site is frightening
i use to be able to edit my comments well past the time limit, i cant now.
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Depending on Ronaldinho’s attitude, Fergie could turn him but as has been said b4, £20m and £200k per week a little rich for my palate.
I would much prefer Huntelaar obviusly, but he seems Real bound or Benzema.
We will probanly end up with Berbatov, which is more sensible.
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Without a shadow of a doubt. Before the transfer magic of last season, I was actually wondering if we should have made a bid for Ronaldinho. It must have crossed Fergie’s mind as we are Ronaldinho’s favourite club. He is still a phenomenal player and his baggage is something Fergie can curb if he decides that Ronaldinho can get back to his best. Look at how he stuck with CR7.
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Man Utd should issue a statement saying that they are close to agreeing a fee with Barcelona for the sale of ronaldo. Madrid will then be forced to make a higher bid and we will get the money. God i hate madrid,who the fuk do they think they are? They are a crap club. Wish we could sell to a club with some morals like barca.
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@Matthew: Are you sure you want want Ronaldo to go Barca? Ronaldo one side and Messi the other would scare the life outta me!!
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Ryan i agree that it would be scary but i would rather sell to barca than madrid, as madrid are really starting to p*ss me off.
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