Cristiano Ronaldo: One Of The Best Players, But One Of The Worst Professionals

What a difference a day makes.

Yesterday I was certain that Ronaldo was staying put, but now he looks set to leave Manchester.

He has kept us all guessing all along, including Real Madrid and Manchester United. It has made for interesting paper-talk for weeks, but the way Ronaldo has conducted himself through this whole affair is poor.

He should've come out before the European Championships and revealed his plans. He is quoted as saying he knew that he wanted to move to Real Madrid before the Champions League final, so why put both teams through all of this?

He hasn't made United want to keep him any more than they did already, and risked making Madrid think twice about buying him, although they have never been big believers in the moral aspect of football.

It's fair enough wanting to move to Real Madrid, they are the team everyone grows up wanting to play for, simply because of their history.

But for him to consistently undermine Sir Alex Ferguson, the Glazers and the Man Utd fans shows him for the poor professional he is. He has managed to lose all the respect he had earned back after the Rooney incident at the 2006 World Cup.

He owed United, and especially Ferguson for sticking by him through his lowest points, and this is how he repays them? OK, 42 goals in a season is a good way, but to finish off one of the best seasons English football has ever seen in this way, so that even some United fans are saying he should leave, shows how bad his actions have been.

As a Liverpool fan I'm not complaining. The only way I would like to see Ronaldo in the Premier League next season is if he is in a Liverpool shirt. And the war at Old Trafford can only do us good, especially when it seems peace is on the horizon at Anfield.

"No-one is bigger than the club" is a phrase most clubs live by. But perhaps Ronaldo is bigger than Manchester United. He certainly seems to think so. And perhaps the staff do too. They know how important he is.

I can't help but feel that if any other player acted this way, saying they wanted to leave and didn't care how his manager reacted, they would be long gone, especially with Fergie. But they seem desperate to keep hold of him despite this.

Whether this is a moral stand against Real Madrid, or that they know that, without Ronaldo, their chances of retaining the Premier League and Champions League take a serious dent, they seem to be completely ruling out a move away from Old Trafford for Ronaldo, whatever he does.

He has already blown his chances of being mentioned in the same breath as George Best, Bobby Charlton, Roy Keane and Eric Cantona United legends, even if he chooses to stay. And if he does stay, he will have to have another season like his last to regain the faith of his fans.

My advice to Man Utd, however, is let him go! He doesn't want to be there, and if, like the Glazers say they will, they leave him to rot in the reserves, that's a waste of over £100,000 a week!

If the bid being lined-up is as reported (£70 million + Wesley Sneijder), I would advise United to bite the Madrid hand off. Sneijder is capable of replacing Ronaldo, and you get £70 million in the bank.

Whatever happens, Ronaldo hasn't done himself, or his reputation, any favours with his behaviour of the past few weeks.