After weeks of tedious speculation, the debate rages on. Will he go? Will he stay?
New articles spring up everyday giving quotes from unnamed sources. One thing is certain in all this though, Ronaldo wants to go. Who can blame him? He isn't English, he isn't even Northern European.
He is Portuguese, a flashy Portuguese man, in fact.
The climate and lack of glitz and glamour in Manchester have probably never appealed to him though the latter has probably helped his development immensely.
No, Ronaldo wants to go to Madrid. This is a club that is currently not the best, nor richest, nor most supported club in the world. However Madrid is the most successful club in european football and the benchmark for all the top european clubs, which, for me, is precisely why he won't be going anywhere.
After all the millions of words written on this subject, I believe one major thing has been overlooked. This situation is a first for Sir Alex.
Many great players have left Sir Alex and Manchester United, but never under their own steam and never because they thought they were moving on to greener pastures.
Ince, Beckham, and Van Nistelrooy among others left in their prime, but only because they were shown the door. Players such as Cantona, Keane, and Shmeichel left to wind down their careers or retire all together.
There has never been a problem replacing great players at Old Trafford, but this is something new namely because no one told Ronaldo he could leave. The global game has made a boy from Madeira Manchester United's star player.
A place they probably dream of playing under a hot sun in the Bernabeu, not grey clouds at Old Trafford.
So, to get to the point, the question for me isn't, "will he go?" or, "won't he go?" it's how Sir Alex will react to a situation he has never had to deal with before. Anybody who knows a little bit about Sir Alex, and has an eye for the big picture, can answer that for themselves.
Selling Ronaldo would set a precedent for a situation that, in the modern game, will no doubt only happen time and time again. I believe Sir Alex and the Glazers will see this as a fight for Manchester United's place in world football.
To sell the world's best player would make them the world biggest shop window for all of Europe's super clubs. It would send the message that players stay at Manchester United unless they reach a certain level of greatness, on and off the pitch (let's not forget that whatever Ronaldo's transfer fee would be it will be dwarfed by the profits made from merchandising over the course of his contract).
What happens if Ronaldo goes this summer and Tevez plays even better next year? Does that mean he goes to AC Milan?
My personal opinion is that Ronaldo will be kept for one or two more seasons and then be sold on Manchester United's terms. I also believe Ronaldo (or his agent) think this is a strong possibility, which is probably what's stopping him from burning his bridges altogether.
I wouldn't expect much trouble from Ronaldo either, a player with his ego is never going to under-perform and he has as much to lose from sitting on the bench all season as Manchester United.
Even the hottest property in football can cool pretty quickly (look at Ronaldinho) and that won't bode well for any future move to Madrid. I think Sir Alex would see selling Ronaldo as good as admitting Manchester United are second best. Can there really be any one out there that thinks he would do that?
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