Transfers - Gossip Shop: All change at United?

Eurosport - Fri, 29 May 08:44:00 2009

Manchester United's Champions League final defeat to Barcelona was disappointing for Reds fans, but it could also prove to be a watershed moment for the club.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Champions League Manchester United Cristiano Ronaldo - 0

After all, who wants to play for a bunch of losers?

Certainly, Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have had a change of heart in the wake of the defeat.

Just a week ago, the flying forward 'unequivocally' pledged his future to his current club, claiming "I only care about what will happen next season at Manchester United".

So it was with a certain degree of surprise (although not too much) to hear Ronaldo respond with a simple "I don't know" when asked on Wednesday night whether he would be at Old Trafford next season.

Real Madrid are sure to have been listening with interest, as the world's most tedious transfer saga ever looks set to bore us all to tears once again this summer.

But any transfer involving Ronaldo - or for that matter the on-going will-he-won't-he Carlos Tevez episode - is sure to pale into insignificance if some of the more reactive (and idiotic) of United fans get their way.

Incredibly, radio phone-in switchboards were jammed at full-time of the Barcelona game, with a small number of 'fans' demanding dramatic changes at the club following the disappointment in Rome.

And changes do not get more dramatic than manager Sir Alex Ferguson leaving after more than 22 years at the club.

Yes, that's right. Some loonies had broken the conditions of their day-release agreements to phone in and actually call for Fergie's head, despite the Scot having landed the Premier League, the Carling Cup and the Club World Cup this season.

Those kind of sentiments have not been heard since 1990 - and for good reason. Fergie's desire, commitment, drive and know-how remains second to none, even after all these years.

Fortunately, the likelihood is that said fans will have woken up this morning with sore heads and taken a few pills before meekly surrendering themselves back to the establishments they escaped from in the first place, and nothing more will be heard of their plans.

Meanwhile, Franck Ribery is set to follow in the footsteps of the likes of John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien by snubbing the overtures of United and plumping for Chelsea instead.

With Ronaldo's future uncertain, the France international has been linked to United. But Chelsea appear to have sneaked in under the radar and are set to nick him from under their rivals' noses.

The Sun reports that a fee of £43m has been agreed with Bayern Munich, with just personal terms yet to be settled. Ribery is said to be holding out for a whopping £125,000-a-week after tax, but Chelsea reluctant to offer more than £90,000.

Over to Milan, where Jose Mourinho, a favourite to succeed Fergie when (if) he ever does retire, is set for a busy summer of transfer activity.

The Internazionale boss has targeted Manchester City midfielder Elano, and is willing to shell out £8 million to get his man - that's one "El of a bid" according to The Sun.

And Chelsea midfielder Deco is also on Mourinho's radar, with the Portuguese keen to link up with his compatriot at the Guiseppe Meazza.

"I can confirm I'm talking with Inter," said Deco in The Sun. "I didn't get to play much this year at Chelsea and a move to Italy would be a very good solution.

"To be coached by Mourinho again would be very interesting. But I don't want to go into details, because it's not me who's dealing with the matter." Natch.

Elsewhere, Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has been checking out Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez with sultry Spanish eyes. The 20-year-old is thought of as a real prospect in his homeland, meaning the Reds would have to dig deep and find something in the region of £10m to secure his services.

West Brom may have been relegated, but striker Marc-Antoine Fortune is hoping to stay in the Premier League next season. The Nancy-owned ace is pondering a move to Portsmouth.

And finally, newly-promoted Wolves are planning a double raid on Wigan Athletic, with Michael Brown and Emerson Boyce - both out of contract at the end of next season - on their wish list, while Blackburn are interested in towering Marseille defender Renato Civelli.

Eurosport

Comment 375 - 394 of 414

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  1. lay off torres- he wouldn't go to united dont get­ greedy now

    From irelandscall2005, on Sat 30 May 7:26PM

  2. sell ranoldo and buy ribery, benzema and tevez 3 top­ class players that are worth playing are better then 1­ lazy over rated greddy player

    From zackyletroy, on Sat 30 May 5:08PM

  3. Let him go... as a united fan im growing in frustration­ at ronaldo. He is not the best player in the world and­ wasnt last year. He gives the ball away far too much,­ dives and only plays for his own perssnal stats. He­ sulks non stop on the pitch and despite all this­ ferguson lets him away with and even plays rooney our­ best player out of position to accomodate ronaldos­ dislike for tracking back. Sell ronaldo buy ribery and­ another winger as well for a strike partner for rooney­ some one who likes to play off defenders shoulders like­ torres so rooney can finally play in his natural role­ just behind striker and build the team around him

    From ssjoshss, on Sat 30 May 1:35PM
  4. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Ronaldo stay!!!!!!!!!!!
    if we buy Ribery and sell Brown­ We could go for Puyol or Heinze

    From Sean, on Sat 30 May 11:20AM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    to alextheodossiadis check the papers lad look like you­ so called super star wants to go so i say let him if a­ player wants to leave you should let him as his head­ wouldnt be in the team he hasnt been as good this year­ as he was previously MAN UTD ARE @#$% ANYWAY

    From Thomas, on Sat 30 May 11:19AM

  6. To Terry K, you are absolutely correct. Liverpool would­ not have qualified once but neither would many other­ English premier league clubs, so why do you single out­ Liverpool? It is of no concern to me who qualifies as­ champions. EUAFA set the rules and since the­ competition changed to accomodate SKY etc. it has­ resulted in many "non European" matches ie.­ this year Manchester united/Arsenal and­ Chelsea/Liverpool (again). In fact the final has been­ contested three times between two teams from the same­ country. I am not a lover of the present format. Give­ me the European cup as it used to be. Unfortunately­ this is never likely to happen as the competition, like­ the English premier league is based totally around­ money.

    From milesbetter658, on Sat 30 May 9:26AM

  7. ok sell ronaldo and get ribery and sell scholes get­ delap then get rid of tevez and buy benzema, now them­ in man utd line up would improve the club alot more we­ could beat liverpool 4-1 this time and beat barca 2-0­ because some times ronaldo hogs the bal alot i know hes­ 2nd in the top score but if we get these players that­ would be realy good.

    From TR, on Sat 30 May 9:11AM

  8. Tevez and Anderson must go.. Man U must get one more­ striker like F.Torres..

    From Kevin, on Sat 30 May 8:57AM

  9. For me ronaldo can go where he wants.He is not the best­ in my club.Man u remains one of the best team in the­ whole world even without him.If SIR could try to retain­ the tiger(Carlos tevez) i will be happy.For ronaldo ,he­ can find his way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From jeff, on Sat 30 May 1:06AM

  10. Agreed milesbetter post 383,that does not change the­ question I asked though! Man Utd have been champions 11­ times so they qualified as champions 11 times yes? I­ will ask again how many times would Liverpool have­ competed in its new format? The answer I am looking for­ is a big fat ZERO times!

    From TERRY K, on Sat 30 May 12:57AM

  11. The way football is these days, players are a commodity­ and as such have a value which can increase or­ decrease. Prior to wednesday, Ronaldo's value was­ said to be anything up to £75 million. following the­ game I am of the opinion it might not be quite that­ high now but whatever it is it would well service the­ interest payments on Manchester united's massive­ debt for a while. You can be sure the American­ connections know this, so It could possibly be out of­ Ronaldo's hands if some club is prepared to pay­ more than he is now worth. This would be considered­ good buisness by the Americans if that were the case.

    From milesbetter658, on Fri 29 May 11:56PM

  12. 1.ronaldo would never go to madrid because he knows­ united are better than them. fact
    2. madrid 2 - 6 barca­ at the bernabeau. fact
    3. barcelona 2 - 0 united (2­ goals better than what madrid could manage at home)­ fact
    4. would fergie not tell him all of the above? OF­ COURSE HE WOULD. fact
    5. would it make that big an­ impact? no, as 70,000,000 plus could get anyone that­ fergie felt like buying ie ribery, benzema,tevez (as he­ would know that he would start every game, now ronaldo)­ fact

    dyu get my point you foolish madrid­ fans.....................oh and itll be a while before­ you get the la liga title back off barca......your­ squad is aging

    From alextheodossiadis, on Fri 29 May 11:17PM

  13. To 384,Had Nissan given you the last car you would own­ it outright. As you will know there are in fact six­ European cups. One was presented to Barcelona to keep­ for a year the other five were given by EUAFA to Real­ Madrid, Ajax, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Liverpool, to­ keep forever for winning the trophy three times­ consecutively or five times in total. So okay maybe­ these teams don't technically own them but they are­ theirs to keep and display forever. It would appear you­ are slightly disappointed that the team you support is­ not in the position to now display a European cup,­ possibly they have never won it but I feel it is wrong­ of you to discredit the five teams who by both­ achievements and EUAFA rules have won their European­ cups outright.

    From milesbetter658, on Fri 29 May 10:06PM

  14. what a load of bulls comment 364 I have bought 5­ nissan cars but i dont own the fookin company

    From anthony h, on Fri 29 May 9:25PM

  15. To 382,yes absolutely correct it should be for­ champions only, which would also rule out other winners­ besides Liverpool,including Manchester united in 1999­ who if you remember finished as runners up to Arsenal­ in the English premier league 1997-98

    From milesbetter658, on Fri 29 May 9:06PM

  16. If the Champions league was actually that,a league for­ the Champions only,when was the last time Liverpool­ would have competed? Just a thought!

    From TERRY K, on Fri 29 May 8:32PM

  17. I would love to get involved in a football debate, but­ I am afraid I would be unable to compete with the high­ level of intellect on here. How long does it take to­ think up a well thought out argument like "man u­ are scum"

    From Chill, on Fri 29 May 8:12PM

  18. watch arsenal go next season.i feel money is going to­ be spent and silverware will flow.

    From sharna.jones, on Fri 29 May 7:56PM

  19. to 373 & 364. As i recall liverpool didnt win the­ cup outrite they were allowed 2 keep it as gerrard­ damaged it.

    From bentley229, on Fri 29 May 6:48PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    i have read most of these so called articles i do­ support a team
    and in my appion liverpool do 110% play­ better football then.any
    other team in league they also­ did play the greatest champions league final of all­ time.i also predict that liverpool will win the
    premier­ league next season.they will also take some doing to­ take
    the crown from them.

    From ronaldallsopp888, on Fri 29 May 5:45PM
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