Well it looks like it is offical Red Devil fans!!! According to ManUtd.com Christiano Ronaldo has been sold to Real Madrid:
Manchester United have received a world-record, unconditional offer of £80 million for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.
At the request of Cristiano - who has again expressed his desire to leave - and after discussion with the player's representatives, United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player.
Matters are expected to be concluded by 30 June. The club will not comment until further notice.
What does this mean for the summer transfer market and the 2009-2010 Manchester United season?
Follow me below the fold for some prognostication and wishful thinking ...
First let me say that I have never been a huge Ronaldo fan. It is undeniable that he is immensely talented but there is simply no place at Man Utd for such a diva. Talent aside, he has been a complete headache with his off field behaviour, constant whinging and drama about wanting to move to Real Madrid, and his constant diving/ref pleading/petulantly lazy play when he doesn't get a "call".
I also think that £80M is a great deal for Man Utd. Let's face it this year's performance (25 goals, 8 assists in all competitions) is pretty much what could have been expected as "normal" output in the future. The 2007-2008 performance (42 goals, 8 assists in all competetions) was an anomoly not likely to be repeated. So getting £80M before everyone else (including cash happy Real Madrid) realized this is a big coup.
But, that said, there will still be a hole to fill at Manchester United this summer. The question is how will manager Alex Ferguson spend his new found wealth?
For what it is worth here is my two cents on what would qualify as a hugely successful summer for Man Utd:
OUT:
Ronaldo (£80M - Real Madrid): Confirmed
Frazier Campbell (£6M - Hull City): Completed
Carlos Tevez (£0 - Manchester City): Tevez is almost surely gone from Man Utd but due to the unique nature of his contract situation (owned by his manager and not the club) they will not get any transfer fee for him.
Nani (Swap): A new rumour has Nani linked in a swap deal with Sporting Lisbon for Joao Mouhtino which I think would be an excellent deal as Mouhtino is an excellent midfielder and is a deadly free kick specialist almost on par with the departing Ronaldo.
Ryan Giggs (est. £3M): The long time Man Utd stalwart had a great season and there are a few lower table Premier League teams interested in signing the veteran as a player/coach. It is hard for any Man U fan to see him go but I think his playing usefulness at Utd is done and it is time to get whatever we can for him this summer.
Paul Scholes (est. £2M): Another long time veteran who contributed part time this season is also being sought by a number of bottom table clubs as a player/coach and given his age and United's strength at Midfield he is no longer a viable option at Old Trafford.
Gary Neville (est. £2M): The last of the old guard that I definitely think needs to go this summer is rumoured to be a target of Middlesborough. With only 13 starts this past season he is easily expendable.
Tomasz Kuzsczak (est. £5M): The long time back up keeper has struggled to earn the top keeping spot at United for years now. With very promising young keeper Ben Foster as a more than capable back up/heir apparent to Van der Sar his rumoured exit to Zenit St. Petersburg seems to make sense.
Manucho (est. £3M): With two younger back-up strikers in the fold (Macheda/Welbeck) who proved themselves in limited back up roles this year it would seem United really has no need for Manucho who spent this season on loan at Hull City.
TOTAL: £101M
So in my dreamy fan scenario Manchester United would have about a £135M budget (£101M plus what was to be approximately a £25M kitty to begin with)to spend on strengthening the squad. Here is how I would spend it:
IN:
Franck Ribery (est. £50M - Bayern Munich): In what is sure to be a dogfight with Chelsea and others the services of Bayern's attacking midfield sensation are now a MUST for United. Prices as high as £87M have been floated by Bayern but with Real signing Kaka for £56M and Ronaldo for £80M I have to think that £55M is the absolute most it would cost to pry the Frenchman way from Bayern and that would seem well out of Chelsea's price range (let's hope so).
Karim Benzema (est. £20M - Lyon): The 21 year old France international wunderkin has long been sought after by Alex Ferguson and has been said to want to play for the Red Devils. While Ribery is very nearly talented as the exiting Ronaldo (and alot less of a diva)and can probably replace most of his creative flair, it will be neccessary to sign Benzema for some much needed scoring punch in the absence of Ronaldo & Tevez.
Joao Mouhtino (Swap): If the rumoured swap of Nani back to Sporting Lisbon goes thru Manchester United will get a great creative fit for the center of the United Midfield. Much better than the often more flash than substance Nani.
Glen Johnson (£16M - Portsmouth): In my opinion United are in need of an upgrade at right back. Johnson has been linked with both Liverpool and Chelsea but there is no reason with all of the excess cash that United couldn't sneak in and swipe him. If not Johnson I think £16M should get United a great right back and put Wes Brown and John O'Shea on very strong bench.
TOTAL: £86M
That leaves United with £15M leftover from their sales plus the £20M-£25M they had already set aside to spend this summer. In addition to the above, United might still try to get long term target Antonio Valencia (Wigan-M) and have also been linked with Yohann Pele (Le Mans-GK). I also think United are in need of a younger central defender to pair with Nemanja Vidic. Rio Ferdinand is 30 and was often injured last year. He probably still has a few excellent years left but why not be greedy ... names like Brett Hangeland (Fulham)and Gary Cahill (Bolton)would fit in nicely at United. But even if I put how United might spend this leftover £35M-£40M into the "total speculation" category and leave it aside for now here is what I hope to see as the Man Utd roster for next season:
Manchester United 2009-2010 Roster (Projected)
STARTERS (Best 11): Van der Sar (GK); Glen Johnson (D); Vidic (D); Ferdinand (D); Evra (D); Rooney (M); Carrick (M); Joao Mouhtino (M); Franck Ribery (M); Karim Benzema (F); Berbatov (F)
BACK-UPS: Foster (GK); Amos (GK); O'Shea (D); Brown (D); Evans (D); R. da Silva (D); F. da Silva (D); Fletcher (M); Anderson (M); Park (M); Hargreaves (M); Possebon (M); Gibson (M); Tosic (M); Macheda (F); Welbeck (F)
I would have to say that this would be an even stronger squad than the ones that have won 3 striaght English Premier League titles and have been to two straight Chapions League finals (with 1 win).
Please feel free to add your thoughts and comments below.