Sir Alex Ferguson is wrong to threaten the star who has just played a major part in delivering him his second Champions League title with a spell rotting in the Man Utd reserves.
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Cristiano Ronaldo is an artist, not a slave, and as a Man Utd season-ticket holder I would not want to see his previous loyalty and love for the club turn into a bitter resentment in a dispute that threatens to derail a squad harmony that Ferguson himself calls the ‘best ever’ in his time.
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The world awaits Ronaldo’s thoughts on a saga which resurfaced on the night the double PFA Player of the Year picked up his Footballer of the Year award from the press who now hang on his every word.
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His refusal to publicly denounce the constant rumours being churned out by Ramon Calderon’s Real Madrid propaganda machine – Marca – can only indicate a head that has been turned by the lure of the Spanish capital.
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After five years service at Old Trafford, during which time Ronaldo has transformed himself and public opinion of his abilities from one-trick stepover merchant and diver to world’s best, has he decided to move on ?
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By his own admission the Madeira man has been focused on proving himself as the world’s best player from an early age. Does he now see the glittering stage of the Santiago Bernabeu as the next part of his journey to the top ?
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He does not need to leave Manchester United to achieve this aim. In fact it would be advisable to stay in the stable environment of a team created around him by a manager who has helped make him what he is, rather than risk the fate of previous Galacticos.
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His mother’s wishes will count for a little, maybe the new Spanish girlfriend too, but I believe the main pull factor of Madrid is tied to what has gone into making Ronaldo the player and man he is today – the wish to keep on proving himself – and proving others wrong.
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He has now won every major honour at Man Utd – two Premierships, one FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League. Next season the UEFA Super Cup and World Club Championship are on offer, but so too could be La Liga and there are 20 new stadiums to grace in Spain.
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United’s best chance of keeping Ronaldo was Ferguson himself and the bond forged between the respected Scottish manager and the lad who lost his own father at an early age.
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But has Sir Alex now undermined that relationship by overtly threatening to deal Ronaldo the footballing equivalent of a fate worse than death – training and playing with Brian McClair’s reserves!
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I hope not. And I think Ronaldo is mature and informed enough to realise that United’s staunch position is partly good business acumen, albeit an unhealthy long-term stance.
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Because what good is it to keep a player against his will locked up like a fairytale princess in an ivory tower ? Even if it is intended to prove a point to a club described by Ferguson as ‘lacking in morals’ and who regularly have ridden roughshod over their rivals to sign players in the past ?
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Because the next Ronaldo, wherever he is – maybe in the form of a 17-year-old Welsh prodigy just about to take the same step the Portuguese winger did five years ago – must surely be watching. And at the very top level, when the likes of Aaron Ramsey can take his pick from a list of top clubs vying for his young signature, he may think twice about committing himself to a club who have dug their heels in before.
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Unfortunately it now needs unilateral action to stop Real Madrid unsettling their targets and inducing the contracted stars of Lyon, Barcelona, Juventus and Manchester United to join them – one man’s campaign looks destined to fail.
Written by Simon Barlow, a professional sports writer who blogs about Euro 2008 betting at Betfair.
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