Sporting Life sporlife

United: Ronaldo Reports Nonsense

Fri 04 Jul, 06:09 PM


Manchester United have described latest reports claiming that a move by Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid is imminent as "utter nonsense" and insisted that the Portuguese winger is not for sale.

Ronaldo is expected to undergo surgery on an ankle early next week after he was seen by a specialist today and may miss the start of the new season.

United, meanwhile, have been infuriated by a report in Spain claiming that the 23-year-old will sign for Real within a matter of days.

A club spokesman said: "It is utter nonsense and totally laughable. Cristiano Ronaldo is not for sale."

Despite Ronaldo's desire to move and a huge fee of around £70million being on offer, United chiefs believe selling the player would cause huge disruption to the club.

Apart from the effect on the team's playing style and formation, it would also send a signal that United are in some way a lesser team than Real.

The Glazer family bought United because they viewed it as the biggest club in the world so they cannot afford to been seen as weaker than Real Madrid, one of their biggest European rivals, or in thrall to their star player.

The message chief executive David Gill has given to the Glazers is that if they stand firm on Ronaldo and neither sell him nor give him another big new contract then it will strike a major blow against player-power and have long-term future benefits for the club.

There is no real financial incentive to the Glazers either - the club's profits are already covering their debt repayments easily so there is no requirement to raise new capital.

If they considered selling him, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson would argue that he would need all the £70million fee as transfer funds to replace his most valuable player.

Confirmation of Ronaldo's operation comes after a specialist echoed the view of medical staff from both United and the Portuguese FA that the ankle injury needs surgery.

He could be out for up to six weeks, and could be out for the start of the season.

United leave for their tour of South Africa on July 18 but Ronaldo was not going on the trip anyway.

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Comment 1 - 14 of 14

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  1. ronaldo is not the best player in the world although he will win the prize.
    1)he cracks under pressure(failed to score penalty shots in champions league semi and final but still their is some luck in penalties.
    2)with all respect english defenders suck and cannot be compared to maldini(in his best days),ramos,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,............................ .............................................................. .....................its easier to score goals in epl than serie a or la liga.(torres at his first season is an example)
    3)there is more pressure at epl so many teams crack ex.derby,.............,.,.,.,......

    From ahmed.amrothman, on Tue 8 Jul 5:50PM

  2. Lampards goal was lucky, so be quiet Chris F. Coming off Ro's back, VDS slipping, and Lamps being in a lucjy position made that goal. Admittedly Chelsea played better football over the course of the game, but your chances were as good as ours. On Ronaldo, Nani will play better next season, and I think Ronaldo will be phased out. He'll play enough games to keep his value so we get decent money for him. Ah well, By Cristiano, and thanks for the goals.

    From stevie_dayuk, on Sat 5 Jul 4:23PM

  3. phil scolari is a quality manager but then again i think avram grant was decent (boring but decent) chelski will go thru a large number of managers in the next decade all because roman is never satisfied and never will be...im sure that grant was sacked because he made abramovich look like a tit in his home country when the finest team on planet earth beat those chelski dicks in the Cl final!
    nuff said...UTD TIL WE DIE!!!

    From michaelashcroft@..., on Sat 5 Jul 4:06PM

  4. Here in Madrid there is a conviction that Real is the world“s most prestigious club, as simple as that. One thing is for sure: quality of life is better. Also, now that Spain are Euro champions there is something about playing here that was not there before.

    From c.shewan@..., on Sat 5 Jul 12:57PM

  5. i wish he would go n play 4 portugal and leave both spain and england

    GOOD

    From nicole, on Sat 5 Jul 10:17AM

  6. He'll move next year.. not this year nor the following january transfer window but only after United are absolutely sick of the whole rubbish.. Real Madrid wants his value to drop anyway.. Wishing Queiroz quits and displaying affection for Madrid and disgracing the club by going for the surgery without informing them?..what more?.. he's disloyal and more annoyingly coward in admitting it

    From Hbonli, on Sat 5 Jul 7:43AM

  7. 70 million pounds? That's not enough. If Real Madrid wants that fairy, they are going to have to pay United to get him, and that will be for at least 120 million pounds. If they don't want to pay that much for him, then maybe the don't want him as badly has they have led on. Pay the 120 million pounds to get him, or United will let him rot on the bench where that disloyal @#$% belong.

    From Investor27, on Sat 5 Jul 2:38AM

  8. Oh dear Chris, what a @#$% you are.

    Missed chances? We should have been 3-0 up at half time, and should have scored six.

    So Terry slipped, big deal, so did VDS for your goal.

    From drunken_sailor_l, on Sat 5 Jul 2:19AM

  9. It's obvious that Chris F here is a chelsea fan. But anyway, Man Utd may not have played as well as chelsea in that particular match but that does not mean chelsea are the superior team. 1 match doesnt say anything. In terms of performance over the season I'd say both teams were rather close. on the other hand, back on the article, we see mentioned that Utd's one of the biggest clubs in the world, that is very very true. Man utd's definitely a bigger club than chelsea at the present moment, despite being closely matched in terms of performance last season.

    There are many factors to consider if you want to judge a team based on 1 performance; and if I have to go back to the champions league final then I would argue that it's because of the unattractive way chelsea play (so deep and defensive in the middle of the park) that forced man utd to not dominate the match via free flowing football. And I'm sorry but John Terry shouldnt be taking penalties anyway; so slipping is an excuse.

    From shin, on Sat 5 Jul 12:54AM

  10. Best team in the world? That's laughable. If John Terry hadn't slipped you would have lost. Hell, You should have been soundly beaten by the 60th minute if chelsea could finish.
    You lot make it sound like you dominated the entire match and won 6 nil.
    When really. It was like like Real Madrid vs Sheffield United. Man united being the latter of course.

    You lot really do need to get back to reality sooner rather than later.
    It'll make the tears taste less bitter. After you get hammered by Zenit in the super cup.

    From Chris F, on Sat 5 Jul 12:11AM

  11. I still dont understand why he would want to leave the best team in Europe, and therefore the world, to move to a side which has failed to make the semi finals of the champions league six years in a row? Maybe its a lifestyle thing, but if he leaves, and chooses money/weather/nightlife over quality of football, he isnt welcome at United anyway. Wait two years and he will have faded into obscurity.

    From Matt, on Fri 4 Jul 11:53PM

  12. hey specy giggs there cause he wants 2 be y would he wanna go anywhere he plays at the best club in the world so zip it mate

    From harrison866@..., on Fri 4 Jul 7:59PM

  13. Free the boy. He got a carrier path to follow. Not to be stuck at Man U like Giggs.

    From Affi, on Fri 4 Jul 7:43PM

  14. GOOD

    From grahamlinacre1@..., on Fri 4 Jul 6:26PM
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