Cristiano Ronaldo Is Two Players, and Manchester United Need Them Both

No matter what amount of money Manchester United are offered for Cristiano Ronaldo, it just will not be worth it.

Rumours linking Ronaldo to Real Madrid appear like clockwork every offseason, with big-talking presidential hopefuls from Madrid doing their best to unsettle the Portuguese star with the player doing little to quash the rumours.

But it does not mean he will actually be leaving Old Trafford, as we all saw last year after what felt like months of courting.

The gap left at United

The impact of his loss on the hard-working Manchester team would be immeasurable, as after all the forward has bagged over 60 goals in his last two seasons.

The 24-year-old is United’s match winner in a team designed to let him play to the best of his ability, and let’s face it, he turns up more often than not. However, during the recent final with Barcelona, the team's usual work effort was not there from the English club, as they watched in awe as Barcelona taught them a footballing lesson in full view of Ronaldo.

Including his days as a youngster, the 12-million-pound man has bagged 118 goals in 291 games, which is a record better than probably 99 percent of Barclays Premier League strikers.

He’d need to be replaced by not only an attacking match-winning winger, but also by a 30 goal per season striker, of whom you can basically count with your fingers currently playing around the world.

So it is two players, two huge transfer fees, two sets of wages—or a single player under contract until 2012. You do the maths.

Reasons to go

The performance of the Red Devils in the UEFA Champions League Final was a huge disappointment to the Portuguese international, and he may well have looked around at his team wondering how they got there in the first place.

It may well have been Ronaldo who contributed a fair amount in the latter stages of the tournament, and you cannot forget his thunderous free kick away at Arsenal in the semifinal.

Real Madrid are bound to be a club he admired as a child, and one always has a fondness for the great clubs of the era you grew up in, but not many get the chance to go on and play for them.

Add that to the money which will undoubtedly be on offer, probably a record transfer fee, and the thought of being a Real great for the Spanish side.

Certainly a challenge, but it would take a legend like Alfredo di Stefano to change the fortunes of such a club singlehandedly, and deep down I’m sure Ronaldo strives to be such a well thought of name in the history of world football.

Reasons to stay

But the Spanish side are in free-fall, are nowhere near the standard of side shown by Barcelona as they beat United 2-0 in the Champions League Final, and may well find themselves looking up at Barca again at the end of next season.

Swap that with the very real chance of creating history at United by winning the League and snatching the last of Liverpool’s pride—and doing so by playing in a side built around you, looking to you to succeed.

He won’t get that in Madrid, where throwing money at their problems has led to little European success in recent years by a team you would not exactly call hard-working.

But unable to inspire an average United against Barcelona, the question remains as to whether he would succeed in Spain. In England though, a hard-working Manchester United side is a great United team, a great team because all the hard work is clinically made to pay by the ever-impressive Ronaldo.

Without the hard work, like we saw in Rome, he simply isn’t always capable of carrying 10 other players on his back.

One thing is for sure, however: He will not have the pleasure of picking off the hard work of others in Spain—unless, of course, he is Villarreal-bound, which is highly unlikely.

In the end

It would be a brave move for the 24-year-old to leave his comfy successful surroundings at Old Trafford for the even more high pressure world of Real Madrid and to a team which has its problems.

Done for the right reasons, one could applaud him.

But a Manchester United without Ronaldo next season, no matter what the price, may well be a side unable, in my opinion, to defend their league title.

A price therefore which is simply not worth receiving.