Manchester United Transfer News: Cristiano Ronaldo Deal Would Break Identity

If Manchester United push ahead with a rumoured deal to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford, the club's identity won't be as much broken as it will be utterly shattered.

Any claims the Red Devils have to being a club that builds its success rather than buying it will evaporate if Ronaldo is added to summer arrivals Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao.

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That's now a strong possibility following reports Premier League rival Chelsea won't bid for Ronaldo, per Daily Star writer Rhys Turrell:

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Both United and Chelsea have been linked with swoops for the Portuguese ace.

However, the Old Trafford giants now appear to be free to sign their former player after Mourinho's claim that the Blues are not interested in the player.

When asked about his club's rumoured interest in Ronaldo, he said: 'Forget it.'

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Daily Express reporter Anthony Chapman has claimed United won't be at all reluctant to show Ronaldo the money:

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The Ballon d'Or holder has been tipped to leave Carlo Ancelotti's side next summer, with a return to Old Trafford on the cards.

It is believed that United have set aside as much as £60million in a bid to bring Ronaldo back to England, and Louis Van Gaal is ready to offer him a lucrative deal exceeding his current £290,000 weekly wage.

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Few would deny Ronaldo is worth the investment, particularly United fans. His development from the miscast winger who signed for United in 2003 into the free-scoring menace who dominated from 2006-09 brought United unprecedented success.

However, bringing back this now fully fledged Galactico would erase any doubt about the way today's United pursues trophies. The squads in which Ronaldo made his name were underpinned by homegrown greats such as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville. There was even room for Darren Fletcher.

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That patiently developed quartet stood alongside modestly priced bargains like Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra. But a glance at the current United ranks reveals a very different approach to team building under new gaffer Louis van Gaal.

He has added Ander Herrera for a fee believed to be above £28.85 million, per Sky Sports. He joined Luke Shaw, the teenage full-back acquired at a cost of £27 million, per BBC Sport.

But that duo represents cheap business compared with the £59.7 million spent on Di Maria and the £16 million loan deal for Falcao. These figures prove United have had no scruples about flooding the market with cash and throwing money at their problems.

That approach has come at the expense of some young talent, something that has created a debate over the club's identity. The prime example is the £16 million sale of Danny Welbeck to Arsenal, a deal precipitated by Falcao's arrival.

Ditching local lad Welbeck in favour of marquee name Falcao prompted former long-time assistant Mike Phelan to dub the club's identity as "broken," per BBC Sport reporter Gary Rose:

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They have probably lost the way of Manchester United a little bit. Now, rather than produce, it may be the case where they are buying in.

Someone like a Danny Welbeck has been part of United's identity and that has been broken.

What will happen in the future now, nobody knows but that thread has been broken now.

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Phelan's words are not without merit. But they do strike at the heart of a difficult irony for supporters to reconcile.

Every fan wants their club to do things the supposed "right way." That way usually involves taking the time to develop young and preferably domestic talents. It's the best way to preserve the integrity of the game and protect a club's long-term future.

However, will many of those same fans who have bemoaned what Welbeck's exit represents still be crowing once Falcao starts rattling in the goals? Call me a cynic, but I doubt it.

Whether Van Gaal has overpaid for many of United's new boys is a matter of debate. But what can't be disputed is the talent of the players he's brought in.

Falcao and Di Maria are world-class match-winners who instantly make United contenders again. But they are also representative of the Galacticos culture, the policy of buying success by hoovering up as many of the game's mega stars as there is to go around.

After the Falcao signing and Welbeck's exit had been confirmed, Daily Express writer John Dillon gave Old Trafford the moniker "the home of the new Galacticos."

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In this context, there's no more point of pride for United fans who feel their club hasn't "bought" trophies the way they believe Chelsea and Manchester City have.

But if Van Gaal seriously pursues Ronaldo, his era at United will look a lot like their super-rich rivals. In fact, that process might have already begun.

It has in the view of Daily Mail writer Martin Samuel:

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It was part of the culture of the club. A British manager affording opportunity to young British players. It was what set Manchester United apart.

Not any more. Sunday, September 14, 2014, is the first day of the new Manchester United.

Against Queens Park Rangers at Old Trafford, a foreign coach will preside over a starting XI of mostly foreign, expensively-acquired, players. If there are English names on the team-sheet they will have been purchased for a king’s ransom, just like the rest.

If Jonny Evans or Darren Fletcher does make the starting line-up, they will merely be keeping that seat warm until the injury list shortens or the next transfer window signals another round of improvements. The vow these days is to buy the equivalent of one Luis Suarez every year. Ryan Giggs says United will continue giving youth its chance but, like Neville, he sounds like a man out of time.

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Of course, no club achieves success at the game's highest level without spending. It's also not always possible to give opportunities to homegrown youngsters. The simple and inescapable reality is they have to be good enough.

For all United's pride in the Giggs-and-Scholes-led Class of '92, the teams those youngsters first thrived in featured plenty of purchased experience. That included centre-backs Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister, left-back Denis Irwin, goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, midfielder Roy Keane and strikers Eric Cantona and Andy Cole.

The fledglings are often credited as the foundation of the treble-winners in 1998/99. But that team owed as much to the then-significant expenditure to acquire centre-back Jaap Stam and striker Dwight Yorke.

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The point is there has to be a balance between development and spending. That's a balance the Red Devils will lose if they pay the earth to reclaim Ronaldo.

Instead, signing Ronaldo will create a dangerous imbalance. On the pitch, the team will be front-loaded with more attackers than even Van Gaal knows what to do with.

It would also certainly mean reduced opportunities for a prospect like Adnan Januzaj, something Samuel pointed out is a risk even now.

Off the pitch, Ronaldo's salary, alongside those of Di Maria, Falcao, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, would make the wage bill dangerously top heavy.

United fans will naturally always warm to the idea of a reunion with Ronaldo. He dug the club out of a relative hole at a time when first Arsenal's "Invincibles" ruled the land, then Jose Mourinho built his first Chelsea empire.

Ronaldo was a prospect, albeit a highly touted one, when he first signed. But re-signing the now-mega-star Ronaldo would push United firmly into a Galactico era.

That would forever break the core values many believe are central to the Old Trafford club's identity.