How come I’m not surprised that Cristiano Ronaldo is heading to Santiago Bernabéu? The saga has moved from the back pages of the papers to the headlines and now, it’s breaking news. And am I the only United fan not exactly unhappy to see him leave? I must be in the minority. Don’t get me wrong, he’s been a great player and made tremendous contributions. Following his phenomenal 42-goal season, we thought it couldn’t get any better and then he gave us that cracker of a goal against Porto in the Champions League.
Nicohlas Anelka only just stole the golden shoe from him in the last game of this season.
But there’s something called a good work ethic and sadly, he can’t lay a heavy claim to this. He can be a great big sulk when he doesn’t get his way. Remember his stroppy behaviour after he was substituted in the Manchester derby? And his huff after the loss (the pain, the pain!) in the Champions League final?
We nurtured him, protected him from the English fans after he got dear Wayne Rooney sent off in the World Cup, let him have a break in Los Angles while recuperating from an operation. We put up with the diving, and even the perma tan and brylcreem overload! And how does he repay us? Tut, tut, Ron.
In my opinion, for anyone who’s asking, there are more pros than cons to this move. Firstly, an end to the ‘will-he-won’t-he?’ drama. Then, of course, is the enriching of our transfer kitty. £80m! Good funds, and some. Monsieur Frank Ribery, are you about? Senor David Villa? If there’s anyone qualified to find a good replacement, it’s manager Alex Ferguson.
Then there’s the whole Old Trafford ethos. No player is bigger than his team and Ronaldo’s attitude just didn’t cut it. We survived post-Eric Cantona, post- David Beckham and post-my man, Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Watch us shine post-Ronaldo.
We got a great return on investment. We spent £11m and got over a hundred goals. Translates to more than a goal per month (more, if we exclude the seasons’ breaks) and let’s not forget how those number 7 jerseys flew off the shelves. And now a cool £69m profit. If Bear Stearns got close to those returns, they’d still be with us.
We don’t yet know what this will mean for Carlos Tevez (I love this guy, he’s a real workhorse, has a great attitude and the fans love him but does he have that x-factor?)
At this point I say a heartfelt ‘thanks’, Ronaldo for all that you did, here’s hoping you have an injury-free 09/10 season (cough), win lots of silverware (choke) and score more than 40 goals.
(NOTE: At this point the writer passed out owing to a sudden fluctuation in her blood pressure and was unable to finish the article...........)
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