It has been confirmed by the club's official site. Man Utd has agreed to sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for a world record fee of 80 million pounds. That is in excess of 131 million US dollars or close to 200 million Sing dollars. WOW !! With that money you can buy Newcastle United now ;)
Real Madrid just re-broke the record they set with Kaka at 56 million pounds. My word, this new Real president Perez guy has got some serious money. How can a sane club possibly turn down the offer which could possibly help them rebuild the entire team again plus fund many other developments. While Ronaldo is seen as indispensable to Man Utd's first team in the last two years, he is only so because the team was built around his attacking forays. Now with Ronaldo gone, Man Utd can focus on building a balanced first team which still boasts the talent of Berbatov and Rooney.
Real Madrid sure has financial muscle, I must do a google search to find out what this Florentino Perez guy does for a living. Signing players of Ronaldo and Kaka's calibre cannot possibly go wrong, afterall they are World Player of the Year winners. What you probably miss out on is the chance to unravel raw talents from your youth team. Unlike Barca, who boasts a vibrant youth system, Real's riches and their board's fickle-mindedness is their bane on an ineffective youth system which last produced a recognizable Spanish talent in the ageing Raul Gonzalez. The other obvious clue which could spell a trophyless season i.e. doom for the Madrid club is that while in awe of Perez's indulgent signings, the defence remains the weakest link at Real. Cannavaro is ageing, while Pepe and Heinze struggled to keep pace with Barca's attack last season. Sergio Ramos on the other hand attacked better than he defended. Casillas as good as he is, was left exposed too many times last season. Looks like nothing is going to change at the back even while Ronaldo and Kaka bombs forward.
Is Ronaldo able to replicate his success and win championships consistently as he did at Man Utd with Real Madrid? Frankly, I don't think so. Not because he is not that good a player to do so but I really don't think he will ever find the same winning mentality as he did with Man Utd. Real Madrid looks more like a "Harlem Globetrotters" of soccer; a show team of "Galaticos" more than a serious team. Their team balance now is unhealthily tilted towards players with attacking and flair more than players who can solidly defend, provide stability and a workhorse/team mentality. Flair in itself is not going to win Perez any sustained success as his first batch of Galaticos has proven him before embarassingly. Well, I guess then that Real Madrid probably suits a player who has allowed his ego to go to his head in recent times, even bordering on disrespect.
Goodbye Ronaldo, we will certainly miss you but it wouldn't be too long.
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