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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

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  1. To 375, you are wrong, Manchester united have a chance­ to equal Liverpool's European cup record but it is­ at least two years in the future. Having said that let­ us not forget Nottingham forrest are only one behind­ them and Aston villa two so who knows. If you add them­ all up England has provided 11 winners in the last 41­ years.

    From milesbetter658, on Fri 29 May 4:41PM

  2. we were in the final for a second year in a row that is­ an achievement there is no shame man united lost to the­ best team in the world
    congratulations on a great­ season premier league carling cup world club cup fa cup­ semi finalists and champions league finalists
    not to­ bad really

    From reddevils_4life99, on Fri 29 May 4:29PM

  3. Regarding comment 370

    The only chance United have of­ catching Liverpool as regards to champions league is if­ they change the name of the championship.........

    PS:­ COME ON BARCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From JohnC, on Fri 29 May 2:44PM

  4. Did anyone see the interview, he was joking

    From yvonne.peralta, on Fri 29 May 2:22PM

  5. To 372 and 370 I am a supporter of my wife, children­ and grandchildren. I am not as you assume a Liverpool­ supporter. I follow no club but have watched football­ for almost sixty years now. As a child I watched the­ "Busby Babes" Later I watched what I consider­ the greatest Manchester united team, during the mid­ sixties. At that time I was attending in excess of 80­ first division matches per season travelling all over­ England to watch football played by all teams. I have­ travelled extensively in Europe to watch football but­ not as a supporter of one team. As to the greatest club­ side ever, in my mind without a doubt it has to be the­ Real Madrid side of the late fifties and early sixties­ followed by Ajax in their prime. Possibly you never saw­ these teams but I did. Like any true football fan I was­ devastated following the disaster that befell the Busby­ Babes but had it not happened I do not think they could­ have matched the Real Madrid side of the time. Because­ I do not support any team I do not embroil myself in­ arguments concerning one club against another. What I­ write I believe to be true and it is true to write that­ in England Liverpool own a European cup outright and­ Manchester united, at this time do not, nor do any­ other club in England.

    From milesbetter658, on Fri 29 May 1:33PM

  6. milesbetter658
    If you are part of such an elite group­ how come you have never won the premiership?Surly to be­ elite you need to win your own countries league first­ regardless of what happens in europe. we have matched­ your 18 titles which we will exceed next year i notice­ this is not mentioned anymore.As for having a european­ cup in the trophy cabinet
    its like the rest of your­ silverware dusty, we have had a bad season this year we­ only won the community shield,carling cup,premier­ league and fifa club world cup

    From adrian.dennis2486, on Fri 29 May 12:39PM

  7. To the Liverpool supporter who suggests that United, as­ the first English entrants into European competition,­ have underachieved I have two things to say:
    1- Munich­ - in 1958 United were in the semi-finals of the­ European Cup and had a young team widely acknowledged­ to have a golden future ahead of them. The tragic­ aircrash that wiped out the Busby Babes left Sir Matt­ with a re-building job that was only completed a decade­ later when United beat Benfica in the final at Wembley;­ How many other European cups might have been won­ otherwise in those 10 years?
    2- Liverpool won 4 out of­ 5 five of their trophies before the more demanding­ Champions League format was introduced. It is no­ coincidence that no team has yet retained the CL­ trophy.
    United and Liverpool now stand shoulder to­ shoulder at the top of the English game in terms of­ history. In terms of recent success Liverpool are­ nowhere near AND THAT'S A FACT!

    From Mark, on Fri 29 May 12:23PM

  8. Ronaldo will stay at united for another season because­ how many tittles united have won(4) and we are the­ first team to win more than 3 tittles so thats y he­ will stay

    From hawkinskieran14, on Fri 29 May 12:17PM

  9. To 366 and 365. It is wrong to assume that I am a­ Liverpool supporter as it it is wrong to assume that­ Mancheter united's current team is the greatest to­ be on a football field. That assumption holds NO water­ after the other night in Rome, but your comments were­ not a reply to my points. Perhaps I am wrong and­ Manchester united do own a European cup outright and­ are in fact a member of the elite group of clubs that­ do. Could you please clarify this?

    From milesbetter658, on Fri 29 May 11:23AM

  10. why change? i dont get it. if you dont win the cl does­ it mean that you are not a good side? this is nosense.­ barca fan

    From Varnavas P, on Fri 29 May 11:21AM

  11. What trophies have Liverpool won this year or in recent­ years? This Man Utd are the greatest team that ever­ strode a football pitch, bar none. You Liverpool fans­ get that green giant off your shoulders, you are only­ happy when you are winning

    From john.haining, on Fri 29 May 11:02AM

  12. Loooseers !

    From Andrew, on Fri 29 May 10:58AM

  13. At the start of the season just finished, both­ Manchester united and Liverpool had a European cup in­ their trophy cabinet. After wednesday night Manchester­ united handed theirs over to Barcelona and it is now­ missing from old trafford. Liverpool over the years won­ theirs outright as have all the really great clubs who­ also have one in their trophy cabinets. Do not forget­ that Manchester united were the first english club to­ enter the competitition and as of this moment,­ unfortunately they are not a member of the elite group­ of clubs who own a European cup outright. To support a­ club entails supporing their history not just the team­ of today, because they are the makers of the next part­ of the clubs history. One day history may be that­ Manchester united own a European cup outright, but not­ yet.

    From milesbetter658, on Fri 29 May 10:26AM

  14. There's no disgrace in being a beaten finalist of­ the Champions League.When you consider the vast number­ of games played over the season, to get as far as they­ did in the four European competitions, ( Carling Cup­ Winners, FA Cup Semi Finalists, Premier League Winners­ and Champions League Runner Up ), then add to that­ World Club Champions, it amounts to a very successful­ season. Maybe the World Club Cup is viewed with a­ degree of scorn, but it did mean travelling to the­ other side of the world and playing some interesting­ matches. It was certainly no exhibition tournament. I­ would think that if Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea had­ achieved as much, the fans would be crowing and rightly­ so. Manchester United is far from a sinking ship, as­ some clown suggested, and I don't foresee wholesale­ changes being made. If certain players feel that­ it's time for them to move on, they'll be­ replaced, and United will continue much as before.­ It's impossible to win every game in every­ competition and now and then things go wrong. I have­ total faith in Fergies leadership. United till I die!

    From David, on Fri 29 May 10:00AM

  15. There's always bound to be a lot of negative­ reaction to such a reverse as this, especially from­ some of the players of the defeated side! So, not to­ hear Ronaldo pledge his long term future to United so­ soon after Wednesday's match is no surprise. Quite­ rightly, he will make any such decision as a carefully­ considered move. He will want assurances that obvious­ quality of the rest of the United side will not be­ allowed to diminish. This implies that one or two of­ United's current squad should be considered to be­ good, but not good enough for football at the highest­ level against the best opposition. It has to be said­ that a "fully fit and available" United squad­ would have provided a different central midfield for­ the Champions League final and we would not have been­ as overun in the midfield department as we were!

    From OldRedDevil1962, on Fri 29 May 9:33AM

  16. shame,shame ,shame man united needs 2 learn from­ liverpol if they can beat barca.
    liverpool all the­ way.we never walk alone
    wit torres and gerrard­ everything is possible

    From ishmael, on Fri 29 May 9:10AM

  17. THEY'RE NOT QA BUNCH OF LOSERS LOOK WHAT THEY HAVE­ WON, YOU CAN'T WIN THEM ALL...AND KNOWING UTD THEY­ WILL BOUNCE RIGHT BACK NEXT SEASON....SO THINKC
    BEFORE­ YOU RIGHT SUCH @#$%!

    From L H, on Fri 29 May 9:07AM

  18. susan.tatton - although no silverware this season but­ most of us are quite satisfied with the league­ performance. with a few addition, am sure we would go­ one step further. looking forward to next season­ already.

    From c, on Fri 29 May 8:44AM

  19. I'm quite sure most Reds wouldn't be too­ disappointed.

    From c, on Fri 29 May 8:41AM

  20. Chelsea won the league then finished second this year­ third. Where next year? back to an average Chelsea or­ will you spend millions upon millions and try and buy­ the title again. Man Utd won the title so if they are­ Mickey Mouse and Chelsea finished third, what does that­ make Chelsea???? hmmm Liverpool but Tevez and a player­ for the right wing then they might be closer next year.­ Another great season ahead me thinks.

    From n.paul, on Fri 29 May 8:34AM
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