Mails: What next for Ronaldo and why would he leave Real?

Ian Watson

Sun is overrated. Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com instead…

What next for Ronaldo
What now for Ronaldo? A player who, up until fairly recently, seemed pretty much guaranteed to finish his career (or at least his peak years) at Real Madrid is now apparently looking to move on for personal (tax) reasons. The problem he’s created for himself is that he is pretty much untransferrable. He has four years left on his extremely lucrative contract, and I’m sure I heard that his release clause is astronomical (around the £1bn mark?) so that’s not going to be triggered any time soon. He’s also 32 now, which means that even the world’s wealthiest clubs are likely to have reservations about investing the kind of money it would take for Real to consider selling him. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that he’s probably scuppered any genuine chance of moving clubs at this point.

In terms of clubs that can afford him, you’re probably talking United, City, Chelsea, PSG and maybe Bayern (at a push). Even if the clubs there could afford him, I’m not convinced he would go to an Italian club, purely because it’s such a one-horse race there. Similarly with the German league, it’s such a one-horse race that only Bayern might actually be able to afford him, but if they’re baulking at the prices being quoted for Alexis Sanchez, then they not likely to pay more for a player four years his senior. PSG might be the only realistic option in mainland Europe, but would he be willing to risk not winning another Ballon D’Or by going to such a weak league? That said, PSG with Ronaldo would have a much better chance of finally winning the Champions League, and there’s a lot to be said for being able to live in Paris.

If he was to come back to England, I have a sneaking suspicion that it would only be to play for United. This is probably motivated by wishful thinking, but he has always talked about his love for the club, and when questioned about signing for City a few years ago he seemed to dismiss the idea. He may well be tempted by a link up with Guardiola or Conte, so perhaps that might change things, but I think only really United could truly afford to sign him (thanks to all our lovely official Noodle partners). So that leaves the Qatari and Chinese leagues as the only remaining realistic options, but if he was to go there then he definitely wouldn’t win another Ballon D’Or, no matter how well he plays.

My money is on the Spanish tax authorities suddenly having a dramatic change of heart, or discovering some previously overlooked exonerating evidence that means this unfortunate misunderstanding magically disappears. It will probably coincide with another cushy new contract too, if he’s learned anything at all from Sergio Ramos. That said, I would still love him to come back to United, even at 32 and for crazy money; he’s still that good.
Ted, Manchester

 

Cristiano is going nowhere
Does anyone really believe there is substance to the current stories? That it is not the unholy trinity of agents, player and media breathing life into the glowing tinder that could be a story but probably isn’t?

So Ronaldo has been charged with tax evasion. Given the poor lads ego-sensitivity level, it’s not a stretch to think he threw his toys out of the pram on a call to Perez, Mendes or both, all of whom have a vested interest in creating the largest transfer fee and story in global football. Perez would dearly love to sell Ronaldo, and as a Madrid fan, I’d be incredibly happy with him departing for monster money, and see Mbappe (and Dembele from Dortmund btw) make his way from Monaco at the end of next season, making room this year for Bale, Isco, Benzema, Asensio and Morata to rotate in a front three.

Thanks Ronnie, you have been awesome. And selfish, petty and downright awful on rare (yet important) occasions. But the business of Real Madrid is to make money to play football, not play football to make money, and if some club us willing to stump up THAT much money for us to invest into a new crop of young, potential superstars, sold. No regrets whatsoever.

Alas, (for the paying punter) this is most likely just another way to hype Ronnies weekly wage, line Mendez’s pockets and put Perez back in the socios good books whilst running up clicks for the media barons. Win, win, win, win, right? Cynical much?
Greg, Amsterdam (RMCF)

 

Celebrate good times, come on!
What happened to all the great celebrations in football? A while ago we had Shearer’s arm raised, Vincenzo Montella’s aeroplane, Stevie G’s chest slide, Timmy Cahill boxing at the corner flag, Roger Milla doing his dance, Crouchie’s robot, Del Piero’s tongue stuck out maniacally and Miroslav Klose’s little frontflip to name just a few. Now we have Sturridge and Griezmann’s cringeworthy dances, Ronaldo’s ego trip, all these muppets forming their fingers into the shape of a heart, Ozil trying to establish an iconic celebration but just looking weird and Suarez kissing every part of his arms as if he’s disturbed. The best I can think of from the modern day are Belotti’s rooster and Gomis’ panther which he doesn’t even do that often anymore.

I even saw Tom Rogic simply not celebrating after scoring that thumper to win the game for Australia against Saudi. That was unacceptable. The manager should have pulled him off for a lack of enthusiasm.

Seriously guys, start being more creative and come up with fantastic individual celebrations. Step it up.
Vish, Melbourne

 

Why do English players not move abroad?
This is one of those ‘It’s not quite as simple as that’ scenarios, isn’t it?

It is also one of those ‘Alex has got this totally nailed but won’t be able to get his point across’ scenarios, too. Probably.

Right. Working-class lad, grows up in Newcastle, is good at football. Moves to London to play for, ooh, Spurs. Lives in, what, Chigwell? Goes out in the West End, or pops over to Paris, or whatever.

That might be enough for him, don’t you see? Enough broadening? He will have team-mates from all over the world. He will have plenty time in the summer to travel the world, if he wants. You don’t know what he gets to learn, or see.

I moved to Islington when I was 23, Camden when I was 25, moved back up North at 32. I met people from all over the world when I lived in London. I worked, but it felt, and I am not exaggerating, like a nine-year holiday. How could a football career away from your home town be other than an incredible adventure?

Cut them some slack.
Alex Stokoe, Newcastle upon Tyne

 

…I think a major problem regarding English players not being as technically gifted as our European and South American counterparts (and ultimately, why there is so little interest in our players from abroad), is the fact that the biggest and strongest at a young age always get picked ahead of the smaller, more technical kids. This is because, at that age (from around 9 to 16) these kids have a distinct advantage over the ones who haven’t developed quite as quickly. Teams with the biggest, strongest, quickest kids who can kick the ball hard will invariably come out on top against teams with smaller, more technically gifted players.

Then, as the big, strong kids get more and more game-time, their technical ability naturally develops and they ultimately become the ones who sign professional contracts. As a broad example, for every Joe Cole there are five Oxlade-Chamberlains – I know who I’d have rather had in midfield the other night. There is clearly a systemic issue where we pride winning youth football matches over actually developing talented players. What happens then is we’re left scratching our heads in bemusement as to why Spanish and Italian footballers are technically 10 x better than those from our shores.

But hey, at least we win our fair share of headers.
Sean, CFC, South East.

 

…People are people, footballers included. Its useless asking why footballers dont move abroad without asking why you yourself don’t move abroad. Are you happy sitting in your room? Perhaps you should get behind the wheel and move to continental Europe. I personally just can’t get enough of the foreign culture I experience on a daily basis and if held over the barrel of a gun would admit that France is better than Ireland (the French are a bit precious though).

I’m sure the wages on offer in the Premier League are a factor but (and this isn’t a condemnation) some people prefer to stay in their native country instead of moving abroad. Another factor might be that historically England doesn’t have a culture of economic migration unlike Spain, Portugal and Ireland, although with Brexit perhaps it’s just a question of time!
Marcus (DM 4EVA) Paris

 

Cracking mail as ever from thayden. I started writing an education-themed response as a counter-point, then I realised I was just informing, and finally I’d totally agreed.

So nail head hit, sir; great stuff. As a secondary school teacher we try to use football as a way of engaging our pupil premium and/or most vulnerable pupils. I have posters on my classroom walls of Premier League players reading, and we ran an initiative in which pupils read to a target and earned a trip to St. Mary’s last year, and got to play at Eastleigh’s ground this year. Sport and education really do go hand in hand, and it’s our responsibility to use this to improve outcomes for young people. Unfortunately, until those at the top do really make a long-term plan with sufficient funding then we’re going to be caught in this cycle of despair.

Cheers,
Stu, Southampton

 

Clasie and Klassen
The last Dutch midfielder purchased by Ronald Koeman was Jordy Clasie. Two seasons and 38 appearances later, he has scored or created the total of two goals in the Premier League. Poor Ross Barkley.

Sean, CFC, South East

 

Hello to everyone at home
What a great article in tribute to David Pleat one of football’s true statesmen. John Nicholson excelled himself with one of his best offerings yet. A true craftsman.
Ron L. BC. Canada