MANCHESTER United should be praying that the quotes attributed to Cristiano Ronaldo are just an exaggerated part of the Real Madrid election process.
Because if the Portuguese star does leave Old Trafford this summer, the cost could be incalculable. Not in terms of hard cash, because the Reds would pick up a hefty fee for the 21-year-old, and not necessarily in playing terms, although he would be hard to replace.
No, the damage would be to United's credibility as a European football super-power, able to attract the top names and keep hold of them.
If the pulling power of the Spanish giants proves too much for Ronaldo and for United, the Reds are on their way to becoming just another feeder club.
Doubts have already arisen about United's powers of attraction. Players who seven years ago might have crawled to Old Trafford on hands and knees have been turning the Reds down - Arjen Robben, John Obi Mikel and Franck Ribery to name three.
The possible departures of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo would reinforce that message, and emphasise the view in some parts of Europe that United are a fading force, yesterday's team.
As a racing fanatic, Ferguson could be forgiven for thinking he may have backed the wrong horse when he came down on Ronaldo's side after the young Portuguese star clashed with Ruud van Nistelrooy on the Carrington training pitch last month.
Now he could end up losing both players, turning what was meant to a summer of tweaks into an off-season re-building of a crumbling team.
Talents
Ferguson had staked United's future on a clutch of young players, notably the outrageous talents of Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo and Giuseppe Rossi.
Now, with a few swift, brutal words to a Spanish journalist, Ronaldo has indicated that he wants to leave.
United have urged caution, pointing out that strange things happen, and strange quotes appear, when presidential elections are in the Madrid air.
But reputable sources in Spain suggest that Ronaldo's comments have been accurately reported. If that is the case, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to hang on to the 21-year-old.
Ferguson will not linger too long trying to persuade Ronaldo to stay, once the player's intentions become known.
Like any hard-core supporter, Fergie takes the view that you are either Red or you ain't. There was no shilly-shallying over Seba Veron, Paul Ince or Andrei Kanchelskis.
Ferguson will quietly seethe if it becomes plain that Ronaldo does want to go. As well as the é12m-plus United paid for him, the Reds have invested plenty in helping him become the star he is.
When he was facing untrue rape allegations last season, he was guided through the emotional and legal minefields by the club, and was given great support when his father tragically died last year.
Ferguson has recognised the lad's needs, regularly allowing him trips back to his home island of Madeira. If this is his repayment for such sensitive handling, perhaps Ronaldo will be better suited to the hard-nosed politics of Madrid.
And Ferguson made it plain that he was standing by the youngster after the row with van Nistelrooy, even if it meant risking the loss of a man who has re-written United history in the Champions League goalscoring stakes.
The big headache for Ferguson is that, if Ronaldo is ready to go, and van Nistelrooy fulfils his desire to escape, he will have to put the summer shopping basket back and get a trolley instead.
Mission
Two months ago, Ferguson's summer mission was clear - he needed an influential central midfielder, or two, and anything else was decorative.
The manager's clout in the market was increased when Chelsea agreed to stump up é10m for Mikel, the Nigerian teenager who has not even pulled on a United shirt, but unwisely signed a pre-contract agreement before deciding he would rather play for Chelsea.
With van Nistelrooy's transfer value plummeting, as he has gone from top European striker to third-choice for his country during the World Cup, that money will be welcome. Bayern Munich have already waved é8m around in front of United noses, although the Reds want double that.
Ronaldo should command a huge fee if he goes, with United holding the aces. They have the player contracted until 2010, and the Real Madrid presidential candidate who wants Ronaldo does not want to start his tenure in office by letting the fans down.
So the money for Mikel, Ronaldo and van Nistelrooy would give Ferguson an overflowing war chest - as long as the Glazers allow him to spend it.
But they appear to have a é26m interest payment due on their whacking loan to buy the club, and the sight of all that lovely lolly might just be too tempting.
United cannot afford to lose Ronaldo - and they cannot afford to force him to stay.
What do you think? Have your say.
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I hope he goes very over-rated and United's reputation wont be tarneshed they have always beeen behind the big Italian and Spanish teams for buying most players. Shearer turned us down for Newcastle.
The fact is we can still compete with most clubs and certainly with the best British clubs unless money is involved - Chelsea.
Perhaps the author might explain when Ronaldo has had an opportunity to speak to Villar Mir or speak to a Marca reporter in a closed World Cup camp. Even the Portugese press are complaining of lack of access. perhaps the author might also explain who the 'reliable sources' in Madrid are, as the only person to go on the record about this is the Agent Pedro de Felipe who was scathing about Villar Mir's candidacy and his claims of signing players and managers is "All lies, completely false".
Yeah he is obviously not committed so has to go. Plenty of time to buy a replacement.
Rubbish... utter rubbish.
apparantly fergie is furious , having defended him againt RVN and nurtured him! what comes around goes around.
I urge anyone to spend time living in Madrid for a time to learn about the bile that comes out of the Real Madrid circus. Chelsea are just doing now what Madrid has done for years - except Chelsea really do have the money rather than angry tax-payers funding it. Living there I came to hate them even more than Liverpool somehow. They are the true enemy to all that is right in football and these elections and their Marca and As propaganda tools just show them at their worse. I somehow think Ronie's mind is on the world cup rather than some self-congratulating bloated Spanish businessman's quest for narcissistic glory. Think about it before ranting people.
It s nice to see that United have one of the most sought after talents in football. R Madrid and Juventus before are just 2 of the clubs that showed their appreciation. However what is right for the best coaches in the world (as Capello who espressed his admiration several times) seems to be wrong for some so called United fans. It also says it all about the footballing knowledge of these fans. Anyway it seems that there is a possibility that their wish may come true - not surprising considering the amount of abuse Ronaldo went through.
A bit OTT we have lost players before - Kanchelskis and Shearer turned us down VDS chose Juve. Ronaldo isn't that good and we can do a lot better, how many players have Arsenal lost? Vieira Overmars Anelka Petit .....etc. If Fergie buys well selling Ronaldo will be a good thing.
We dont need players that dont want to play for the club. If five or six more said they want to leave,I would back fergie till the end. I dont even know why he would want to go to Madrid anyway cos they are a poor ageing team. Sell Ronaldo and Ruud and get Torres and Riquelme. That would do nicley.
If Ronaldo has said what the Spanish press is claiming about his wish to join Real Madrid, then what happens if this guy Mir doesn't win the Real election on Sunday? After nailing his colours so openly to Mir's mast, it puts Ronaldo in a spot at Old Trafford, doesn't it? Right in the Mir(e), so to speak. Personally I'm surprised that candidates in these Spanish club presidential elections can get away with these barmy claims of signing this or that player, or this or that coach, if they are elected. It seems to drive a horse and cart through any FIFA guidelines on tapping up. The one thing that really disturbs me about Ronaldo is his uncanny resemblance to a young Cliff Richard. Surely they're not related. My Forest-supporting mate reckons United should sell both Ronaldo and RVN and buy Torres and Lennon. Now there's a thought.
A better description wld be the middle ground. Ronaldo is using the news of his possible breakaway as a pawn to ease the pressure as MU decide between RvN and himself. Ronaldo going to Real cld be an ingenious personal career move. His flair and peculiar abilities arguably have greater potential in the flamboyant La Liga and Real is in need of a messiah. But Ronaldo cant be said to be doing badly at MU and doesnt have compelling reasons to leave. Barring an extremely ambitious perspective which convince him that a gamble on a real move is the fastest way to stardom, i dun see Ronaldo truely wanting to uproot. Thus, this only means that he is prob a pawn in election. But the fact that he has not come out to clarify might mean that he is simply sitting on a wave to ease the pressure on himself as Mu decides on RvN future.
He is off. This case is almost a done deal. When these sort of situations occure it very seldom that they aren`t correct. It is would be a massiv blow to loose Ronaldo. I agree with the publisher to this story, beeing able to attrackt talent and big names to this club will be more difficult in the future. We can only speculate on what is happening behind the scenes at Old Trafford. We have lost a few players on a more or less controversial matter. Stam and Beckham. Then Keane left suddently. Now it is seemingly Ronaldo. My question, is Ferguson bringing this club down? If this continues it will be a massiv task for a new manager to rebuild, and it will take years before we are back on track. If Ronaldo goes, we should try to get as much out of it as we can. Please not another deal like Becks. ??15 million was way to cheap for such a player/brand. The lack of activity in the transfer market is really disturbing. It seems we need a new top striker, a right winger and at least two central midfielders in one of them to be an attacking force. How is Ferguson going to deal with that beats me.
Well here were are looking forward to another seaon with this clown Ferguson in charge. Assisted by the equally clueless Quieroz while his Chief scout the clueless Martin Ferguson continues to unearth more duds. For the sake of the club why doesn't the man go now and take his cronies with him. I fear the worse this season I really do.
This is a disgrace. First he lets himself get totally out of shape, then he goes and scores two goals for Brazil and nest he says he wants to leave Manyoo. Ronaldo. Listen son. Get your head straight!
T&c for once i totally agree with you
Im not sure. Anyways, I can't belive FIFA is sitting and watching this kind of behaviour from Spain without lifting a finger. I would be sad if we are to lose such a great talent, but if he want to go we should sell -BUT.. this time let's act like bandits and mug them for as much as possible. No clauses like in the Beckham deal.. PS: Glad spain is out of the WC picture, so we can see Torres on MUTV holding the red shirt ;-)
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! is all i can say its great.
Ferguson should have brought quality midfielders to support Ronaldo, instead bought left back and central defender at Xmas. Ronaldo has never lied to fans - told us ages ago he would go to Spain - so why the fuss now? As for the support, most players would ask for a day off to go to a funeral - and Ronaldo only missed one match. If the lad wants to go closer to his homeland, after 3 years, helping to win the FA Cup and Carling Cup with no quality midfielders to speak of, then why shouldn't he - remember - it was Ferguson who got rid of Keane - not Ronaldo....
if he has no loyalty towards MU then let him go, forget him and Real their whole la liga cause MU are the greatest football club on this planet. whatever SAF & co'. decide i back them 100% no questions asked.and whoever doesn't back them then they should practice their spanish lingo now cause that MARCA is just a great big doughnut with huge hole in the middle
It's hardly surprising that top players are now turning down the opportunity of going to OT when you still have the despot Ferguson in charge, it's enough to put anyone off. The sooner the Glazers realise that,despite past success, the man has now become a liabilty and the sooner he is fired off the better. The talk about give him time to get it right is unbelievable, how much time does he want, he has been there too many years already?
Can we get ?? 25m for him? If so, sell the puppy!
Ronaldo is a betrayer. He should be sold. He is not that important, he's a fancy dan and does not deserve the recognition he's getting. Please Sir Alex, kick him out.
Guess his intentions are true. Never thought Ronaldo would stoop to such a level. We are set to lose Ronaldo and it is really saddening to see no more loyalty in football. I wondered if Fergie were to blame?? If Ruud and Ronaldo were to leave, Spanish and Argentinian contingents should be lined up to replace them. The Spanish have done exceptionally well in the league this season bar Reyes and Luque with their soft approach and the Argentinians are just in the class of their own at the moment. Probably with prima donnas out of our squad, next season we can make serious inroads to create another treble winning side.
I would worry if it was Rooney. I never worried with Rio and I am not going to start now. If the young man wants to go, good riddance so we play better as a team. Get Riquelme, Mascherano/Carrick and while we at it, snack our fav Fernando Torres and Lennon - why even go to Madeira to get a cake when we have Lennon around? we don't worry too much abt old fashioned english 'honour' as this reporter here brazenly thinks. we only like good football, and Ronaldo's stupid selfishness often deprives us. Sell Sell Sell I say, both Ronaldo and RVN. Rossi and Jones await. Don't waste ammo on the pigeons, the deer are coming.
When Alan Smith gave him that black eye he should have gone then.
Apparently, that's the only time he didn't fall over. He only turns it on against the weaker teams anyway...so watch out England.