Ronaldo - The Cockney Red view

The harder and faster the speculation arrived, the deeper my denial and ignorance became. As much as people (by people, I mean everyone) have said that this was completely inevitable, the romantic, child-like football fan inside me genuinely never saw it coming.

An disproportionate number of United fans have immediately expressed an ultra-positive view towards the news that Ronaldo will be sold to Madrid. They say that now is the time for him to leave, for they have grown tired of his tantrums and vocal desires to leave the club; how his view that moving to Madrid will progress his career is demeaning and embarassing to United (seeing how Madrid are actually shit); and, of course, how we will now take the £80million, say thank you very much, and spend on anyone and everyone. All of these are valid and probably truthful points; however such a one-dimensional, conveniently forgetful perspective will not only reject his pivotal contribution over the past few seasons, namely the season before last, however also undoubtedly neglect his genius.

We have all loved watching Cristiano Ronaldo dance his magic around the Old Trafford turf. He is that special United player of my generation; the hero that has developed and prospered and brought success to my team. Yet it is now all over. The blistering pace, the step-over's, the scientifically impossible free-kicks will now all belong to another team and another inspired fan. We cannot and should not forget that this is a boy who has constantly dominated and dictated the way modern football is played in this country. His revolutionary style (revolutionary to England, anyway) highlights a new, better era of football; one where skill, possession, pace and power are fundamental. A domineering, unique style that he himself, at United, has introduced, developed and, at times, adapted and redeveloped (through new, potentially challenging arrivals, such as Berbatov); showing that he is the key and the team - and their success - work through and around him.

My bemusement, shock and possible panic at this news, similar to my response towards our tame Champions League de-crowning a few weeks ago, has led me to constantly ask questions (as you will notice). Such as, how and, more importantly, why has it come to this? The logic for him to leave the club at this time was (and surely still is) unapparent. For United, Ronaldo transformed the traditional wing role and made the position his own to develop complete creative control on the pitch. Even his often embarrassing off-pitch antics - including his leaving-the-pitch antics at home to City - are largely ignored by the famously intolerant Ferguson. He is also playing for a younger, better team with an honest moral fibre; one with a traditional dedication and responsibility towards home-grown talent that makes up a solid, experienced and comfortingly recognisable base (Ferguson, Giggs, Scholes et al). Above all, we maintain consistent Championship ambitions: none of which the current Real have.

On a personal level, his desire to leave has always been present, yet surely for any player practical ideas related to footballing success and prosperity also exist? What progressive traits do this average Madrid side hold? You know, the team that were casually battered by Liverpool and Barca last season (i.e. 2 teams competing right at the top level, a place that in 2008/2009 was far from Madrid's reach)? How about the endless amounts of money and the Galactico’s dream, I hear you ask? As my esteemed colleague Pontius has highlighted below, not necessarily beneficial. As well as Madrid’s own risky success-buying tactics, I can also see his personal influence and status being far less prevailing, especially with Kaka playing alongside him; however of course, his talent (presumably minus the petulance as he now finally has what he wants) will shine through, for a player of this calibre can only ever succeed, wherever he plays.

Ronaldo, we must remember, is the reigning best player in the world, therefore to lose him, regardless of the ridiculous sum of money we will receive, will surely leave a void that no other player in the world can fill? OK, his influence last season was not felt quite as strongly or evidently as the previous one, and names out of Barca’s super-side, such as Messi, Iniesta and Xavi, are now being mentioned with a higher regard than Ronaldo; but he is still, at the far-from-peaking age of 24, one of the games prima talents. And besides, the fairytale situation of United snapping up someone like Messi using a large chunk of the £80 million is something only (partially) achievable on Championship Manager. I personally feel we will struggle to nail down someone of that mark, with Benzema and Ribery also being given ‘Not For Sale’ signs to wear around their necks. Will we find another ‘Ronaldo’ again for around £10-£15 million and 18 years of age? Perhaps. Yet are we, or 67 year old Ferguson, willing to wait 4/5 seasons so the player can progress and mature into a world beater while success on the pitch is sacrificed as a new team is built around him? With the increasing levels of money in the game and the ease at which team’s can now compete at the top if they have the money, probably not. The formula, consistency and, above all, quality is there with our current, eclectic crop…so where do we go from now when our most influential member is removed?

The opportunities that have potentially opened up through this absurd injection of money will hopefully prove extremely interesting over the summer, and my faith in Ferguson to produce another Championship winning team is unharmed. Yet, exactly how will this money be used? Finally therefore, I would like to address a serious, worrying point that the head of the supporter’s trust, Duncan Drasdo, has raised:

"We are calling upon the owners to make a statement of intent that all incoming transfer funds will be made available to Sir Alex Ferguson to allow the manager to strengthen the squad”.

If this proves to not be the case, then nothing seemingly apparent about the reasons for this transfer actually matter; not Ronaldo’s desire’s to leave, nor Ferguson’s plans of rebuilding. It is purely a means of reducing our debt. So to that - i.e. losing our best player, possibly one of the greatest to ever play for United, because we are in financial trouble - I will no longer love this game and lose any naïve romantic notion towards it. But surely not...I mean, seriously: how hideous can football really be?