United complete Ronaldo sale

Stuart Mathieson

July 01, 2009

GONE: Cristiano Ronaldo

UNITED have officially completed the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo and banked the full £80m.

The World Player of the Year and the most expensive player of all time left with a tribute from Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

“Cristiano has been a marvellous player for Manchester United. His six years at Old Trafford have seen him develop into the best footballer in the world,” said Fergie.

“His contribution has been a major factor in the club’s success in that time and his talent, his ability to entertain and his infectious personality have enthralled fans the world over. Everyone here wishes him well in his future career.”

How should United spend the money? Have your say.

Submit Comments | Comments (50) |

Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All

tooth&claw, manchester (01/07/2009 at 10:41)

That's a dignified statement from SAF. Unlike some of the fan reactions. It's also interesting that Madrid did manage to pay up on the day. There were still doubts in Manchester and Madrid as to whether it would be paid on time until quite recently.

Now that the money is here, I'd expect United and AC Milan to conclude some business in the next 10 days.

Lord Ruud (01/07/2009 at 10:43)

Just a small point but if these quotes are from Fergie then it is quite sad that he has such nice things to say about Ronaldo who has messed the club around for the last 2 years - while more loyal players like Keane, Van Nistelrooy and Beckham got booted out the door with little or no acknowledgment for their contributions.

boyfromburrenway, exile czech republic (01/07/2009 at 10:44)

straight down the post office boss, draw it out and get busy....park , kitkat, gibson, campbell out......benzema , costa ,diarra in.....

possebon out on loan, nani swap for velosso -moutihno ....

liljames, Malaysia (01/07/2009 at 10:47)

good riddance. hope you enjoy trophyless seasons at real madrid. looks like it...

jason gillson (01/07/2009 at 10:52)

Thanks for the service! All the best! You will be missed!

Justin The Great, manchester (01/07/2009 at 10:55)

How should United spend the money?...... im sorry to say we just sold the best player in the world.... to real madrid! how much would it cost to prize away someone like messi?? sure it would be alot more than £80m... so we were a bit stuopid to sell ronnie for £80m

anyway good luck ron and thanks for all that money! we will have to buy a few more mediocre players like valencia to make up the numbers

bobbydazzler (01/07/2009 at 10:58)

t&c would that be for gattuso then?

Rafal Olender (01/07/2009 at 11:00)

ronaldo at real. no more gayness at OT.
btw. for all those who are afraid of coming season. i would be more worried if i were RM fan. just wondering how will all those galacticos gel together. and who will work for ronnie on the pich? maybe kaka??

Lee , Heywood, Heywood (01/07/2009 at 11:07)

Cheers for the memories Ronnie. In terms of a player to watch your were pure silk. My favourite player to watch but not my all time hero. The fact you left so early and your dislikable off feild persona did you there. I would wish you good luck but I really wont wish Madrid any luck. Maybe one day you will return ??

Justin The Great, manchester (01/07/2009 at 11:16)

liljames, Malaysia..... no need for the bad vibes if a player wants to play for another team its just life you have to deal with it.... just like most players that want to come to united, their fans and team mates also have to deal with it and believe me we nick the best players from teams regularly..... our next victim will be lyon when we nick their best player.... last victim was tottenham

Duncan, London (01/07/2009 at 11:26)

Sorry Lord Ruud that's not true, at least for Keane - it was clear in the press conference he agonised over his departure. Beckham repeatedly flaunted his importance or maybe you forget missing training sessions for shopping trips with his wife. Ruud you may have a point but he was a victim of his support for Keane and that disloyalty was never gonna go unnoticed especially when the players who were doing it on the pitch were Saha and Ronaldo.

Free Red, Manchester (01/07/2009 at 11:27)

It's another classic sell to buy. United & Wigan agree terms with Valencia who signs a contract subject to payment. Real then pay United £80 million for Ronaldo. United then pay Wigan for Valencia. Meanwhile United call press for a photo shoot with Valencia holding up the new United shirt complete with number. Same sketch different year.

paul leigh (01/07/2009 at 11:32)

Thank you for everything you've done Cristiano you have left us some great memories but you are no longer a Manchester United player and therefore irrelevant.

Good luck

RJKS, St Retford (01/07/2009 at 11:42)

Thankfully, i don't have to watch the winker falling on his backside every five minutes anymore !

Lord Ruud (01/07/2009 at 11:43)

Duncan - I would still argue all three of the players I mentioned were treated disgracefully in terms of respect - they were all much stronger personalities than Ronaldo which might be why Fergie found it difficult to justify keeping them.

Beckham missed training that time due to his son being ill and was dropped against Leeds rightly or wrongly, he took his dropping like a man and moved on and as every manager that works with him will testify he is one of the most professional players you will come across. For example, I can't think of many players who would carry on with England knowing they would no longer be captain or first choice for their position.

In Keane's case I think his departure was actually necessary as we were having to build the team around his ageing legs which helped no-one, what I objected to was how it was done. But once Fergie doesn't want you, there is no going back and I suppose it's this ruthless streak which has kept him at the top as he doesn't dither, even if he hasn't always made the right calls because of this streak in him.

tooth&claw, manchester (01/07/2009 at 12:02)

Lord Ruud, surely that's a joke, yeah? Loyal players like Keane, van Nistelrooy and Backham? How about when Keane messed the club about with his contract talks and then again when he thought he'd wring out the dressingroom's dirty laundry in a TV studio. Or van Nistelrooy who fell out with his colleagues and went into terminal depression for being overlooked for the Carling Cup Final and started spouting on about the manager or Beckham who thought he was bigger than the club. Despite that SAF has acknowledged their contributions.

tooth&claw, manchester (01/07/2009 at 12:05)

bobbydazzler, very droll. The time for Gattuso has passed, sadly. He would have been a good signing three years ago. He'd be a very, very short-term signing now.

I'd like to see us buy one forward and then look at providing more competition in defence. I think we can probably get that done for £35m, leaving plenty in the kitty for future transfer windows.

Duncan, London (01/07/2009 at 12:10)

"Same sketch different year. "

Cool - does that mean we get the premiership as well this year?

Great stuff.

tooth&claw, manchester (01/07/2009 at 12:12)

Free Red, I'll give you something, you don't mind being regularly humiliated in public. You are still hopelessly out of your depth talking about football and United in particular. That sort of posting may pass muster on the forums of little clubs but you are making a fool of yourself on the big boy's forum. So toddle off now.

bobbydazzler (01/07/2009 at 12:33)

merely asking a ? if it is not gattuso who would it be from milan then

Lord Ruud (01/07/2009 at 12:38)

Tooth&Claw - I'd forgotten about the Keane contract in 2000, yes I'll concede on that one, but I do think Keane was using that venture as a way to get more money from the board and wanted to see if we would abandon our pay structure at the time - which we did.

Beckham was a very loyal player and still speaks highly of the club, his final season he was still contributing well and I still can't believe Fergie chose a half-fit Veron over him against Madrid in his final season - guess that's when Beckham knew it was really over - this whole spin doctor thing about him being bigger than the club is just nonsense too, he was a huge media icon, but he was always a great professional. Van Nistelrooy had lost a bit of pace and movement following his injury but was still treated very oddly for someone who was still scoring at a pretty healthy rate. Neither were sent packing for football reasons and are barely mentioned by Fergie when talking of past players he has worked with - in fact he speaks with more fondness about past players like Forlan and Veron, probably cause they didn't answer him back.

Duncan, London (01/07/2009 at 12:38)

Lord Ruud - I'm not convinced by Beckham's version of events. Regardless of the facts of this case, Keane started mouthing off in the press and was followed by Ruud. Ferguson could never let this happen as total control of the dressing room is vital to ensure the team remains behind him and focussed as a unit. Morale and unity in the dressing room is far more important than the ability of an individual player even if the loss of this player may mean the team loses an option on the field. And that requires total respect of the manager by the players. In any case you can't argue with three premierships since Ruud and Keane left.

Duncan, London (01/07/2009 at 12:41)

By the way Keane, Ruud and Beckham are extremely well paid so there will always be a limit to any sympathy I have for any professional footballer regardless of their contribution in the past. I get the feeling some of the players forget how privileged they are at times. And some of the fans!

roscopeco , newcastle (01/07/2009 at 12:44)

t&c

do you know something about a possible ac deal?? pato perhaps??

rosseyh

Free Red, Manchester (01/07/2009 at 13:04)

I'm going nowhere.

()

Manchester United