For what its worth I think Ronaldo will stay at United for now. His provocative statements and demands to be allowed to leave the club have dried up in recent weeks.
It is also hard to believe an operator as shrewd as Ferguson would allow himself to be quoted as expecting the player to stay, were he not certain of this outcome. The potential for embarrassment would be huge.
United do not seem to have stepped up the search for a striker either, which given the expected departure of Louis Saha would be remiss should they expect Ronaldo to leave. The Berbatov deal appears to be stalling, despite reported confidence from the United boardroom.
Despite the modern wisdom that players can force their employers hand by demanding a move, and thereby reducing their potential value, Ronaldo has so far found himself unable to do so. A sign which must be reassuring for fans of any club nervously eyeing their star player, despite Sepp Blatter’s concern for the human rights of Premier League footballers.
Perhaps the biggest irony is that, despite the protests accompanying their arrival, the club has been able to resist the siren call of Madrid’s millions because of its private ownership under the Glazers. Imagine Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill announcing to a packed room of shareholders their intention to allow the clubs most valuable asset to “rot in the reserves.” I’d like to be a fly on the wall for that meeting.
But one thing the last few months have emphasised is that Ronaldo’s long term future lies outside Old Trafford. It has been obvious for at least two seasons that this would be the case.
Ronaldo is different to, say Rooney, who grew up in North West England and sees himself at the biggest club he can play for. Growing up in Portugal, it was the white shirt of Real Madrid he dreamed of playing in—not the red shirt of United. And surely there is nothing wrong with that.
Perhaps the biggest reason he is unlikely to last more than one more season has been the reaction of United fans to the saga. This is entirely different from the situation after Euro 2004.
Many of United’s faithful have an antipathy to the England team. His actions in the match against England, and the subsequent press hysteria, did nothing to dampen United fans’ enthusiasm to see him return. Recently the mood on the message boards, and in the pubs, has been one of anger that one player thinks himself above the club.
All of this begs the question whether the biggest loser out of all of this might be Ronaldo himself. Aside from the protracted saga hardly covering him in glory, few players leave Manchester United to go onto bigger success.
Ruud van Nistelrooy being perhaps the only recent exception. Once his form begins to slide, or injuries bite, will managers be as keen to sign a player who has shown himself to be such a disloyal and disruptive influence?
Cristiano Ronaldo would be unwise to adopt the attitude of moving clubs his Brazilian namesake took. The initial similarities are quite striking. At Barcelonain 96/7, Ronaldo scored 47 goals in 49 appearances—including 30 league goals and a goal in the European Cup Winners Cup final.
The next year he went to Inter Milan, where he helped spur them onto the Uefa Cup in 98, before feeling his knee buckle in 99. His comeback match in 2000 lasted only seven minutes.
On the back of a World Cup victory and winning World Player of the Year in 2002, he signed for Real Madrid for 39 million euros in the close season. But despite threatening to regain his previous form in some good performances, injuries and lifestyle conspired against him. Nowhere is this more apparent than the 7.5 million euro value applied to his transfer to AC Milan in 2007.
For now Cristiano can bask in the glory of being the only Ronaldo. But he would do well to remember when he was the junior of two, and how quickly things can change.
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