Transfer News: It’s been Ronaldo all the while

There is this interesting bit of news reported, although it never come from Manchester United themselves – guess it never will, that Cristiano Ronaldo has been the intended/ targeted marquee signing all along…….
There is every element of truth in this although unconfirmed, logic is there. First of all the man himself – Cristiano Ronaldo – was reportedly to be unhappy. Why? Depending on the source of the story the reason can range from financial to emotional. Ronaldo’s camp has been looking for a new contract, a pay rise to his current deal believe to be in the excess of €20 million per year, which will make him the highest paid player in the world. Fiorentino Perez on the other hand is not too keen on this idea. Besides the possibilities of making Ronaldo feels like he is untouchable, Real Madrid is also actually deeply ‘saddled’ with debt, and with Gareth Bale coming on board it will make the sum rather astronomical – even for club like Real and the sale of Mesut Ozil highlighted this fact loud and clear. There is hesitation on Real’s part for Ronaldo’s demand and it reportedly makes him (Ronaldo) feels like he is ‘under-appreciated’. For all his performance in a team sport, Ronaldo actually stood out. Not only his ratio of goals to number of games played tilt in favour of the former, Ronaldo is also very ‘marketable’ in the commercial world. Despite playing second fiddle to Lionel Messi in individual accolades, Ronaldo, seen from the commercial perspective - seems to be miles ahead of anybody else. Therefore Ronaldo’s camp understandably is pushing very hard for a new and better deal.

 

Secondly like a lot of big star players, the ego is one of the most important aspects that need proper management and Cristiano Ronaldo is no different. It is hard for player of Ronaldo’s stature to accept that he is no longer the number one player in his team. For players like Ronaldo he is suppose to enjoy a ‘god-like’ status in the team – the term ‘untouchable’ and not ‘indispensable’ would be a better term. With or without Gareth Bale in the team, Ronaldo had already felt ‘unloved’ with reports from Madrid suggesting he is not as respected in the team as he would love to be. The sale of Mesut Ozil and the arrival of Bale further complicate the situation Ronaldo is in – emotionally.

 

So it was suggested that the ‘wheeling and dealing’ by Manchester United – the ‘disrespectful bid for Everton duo of Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini, the waiting of Fellaini’s release clause to expire in the hope of securing him cheaper, the half hearted attempt at Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara, was all an attempt as to provide backup option should the main target man Cristiano Ronaldo did not make the move from Bernabeu to Old Trafford. How badly has that backfire on Woodward and Moyes. United’s fans was particularly not please to being the laughing stock after the fiasco on the final hours of the transfer window.

 

While Ronaldo is contented to stay at Real Madrid for now it is interesting to see if the arrival of Gareth Bale will have any negative impact on him (Ronaldo) emotionally. There has been crack already from Ronaldo’s side on the issue of Mesut Ozil’s transfer to Arsenal. Ronaldo himself has been avoiding making any comments on Bale’s arrival, further suggesting that all is not well with Fiorentino Perez’s galaticos policy this time around. There is even news suggesting that Real Madrid announced a different transfer fee (believe to be significantly lower than Ronaldo’s original world record transfer) – just to appease him. And if Bale does justify his transfer fees by producing world class performance, it may also have negative ‘emotional’ impact on Ronaldo’s state of mind. For all these reasons, it is not hard to imagine Ronaldo trying to engineer a move away from Bernabeu, maybe as early as the next transfer window in the winter. A rationale strategy from Ronaldo’s camp would be to run down his contract so that they would command a higher signing on fees on the next move. But if Ronaldo decides he has enough of the negativity he could possibly engineer a move in January but that would be bad news for his next employer as he would definitely be cup tied for European competition.

 

If in the event Cristiano Ronaldo becomes available will Ed Woodward and David Moyes be ready with the funds or will they try to ‘wheel and deal’ to get a better deal – with the possibilities of missing out on their marquee signing again?