The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo on a new five-year, £31 million contract yesterday represented the best possible news for a buoyant Manchester United as they continue their quest for success. But the ink had barely begun to dry when Sir Alex Ferguson angrily condemned Real Madrid’s attempts to unsettle a player he has challenged to follow in the footsteps of Pelé and Diego Maradona.
Ronaldo’s decision to sign a deal worth about £120,000 a week, making him the best-paid player in United’s history, came as a serious blow to Real, who had been encouraged to believe that the 22-year-old Portugal winger would join them in the summer. Those hopes are now over — for another year at least — but Ferguson’s delight did not stop him castigating the Spanish club for their part in the saga. “I had no doubts Cristiano would sign, but I think everyone else outside Old Trafford had,” Ferguson said. “In this case, I think there were some grounds for the speculation in that they [Real] keep talking in Spain and unsettling clubs like ourselves. They don’t have any regard for anyone but themselves when they decide to put their neck out for the best players in the world. They’ve shown that over the years. “When it continually goes on and on, you start worrying about the substance and the source of it, even though you know deep inside you it’s a game that they play. It seems to happen time and time again.
“There’s no point reporting them to Uefa. If you fined them, they would wipe their backsides with it. But I believe Cristiano is at the right club. He’s playing in front of 76,000 fans every week. There was no reason for him to think about leaving other than that people perceive Real Madrid as galácticos, or whatever they call themselves.”
Sources at Old Trafford have indicated that Ronaldo had to persuade his agent, Jorge Mendes, to bring forward negotiations rather than leave the door open to a summer move to Spain. Mendes initially told David Gill, the United chief executive, last month that his client, who signed a £70,000-a-week deal in November 2005, would require a figure in excess of £130,000 to stay, but a compromise in the region of £120,000 was struck late on Thursday. That figure eclipses the £100,000-a-week basic wage paid to Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney — if not the £130,000 that Chelsea pay Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko every week — although the breakdown of Ronaldo’s deal is not yet clear.
Ferguson, who praised Gill’s role in negotiations, has no doubt that Ronaldo is worth the price. “When you negotiate, it’s down to two two things: does he want to stay and how much will it cost the club?” the manager said. “That’s where David came into his own and both parties agreed. Maybe both parties aren’t happy, but they’re satisfied and that’s where you get an agreement.” Ferguson believes Ronaldo is the best player in the world on form and also feels that the winger could elevate himself to the game’s pantheon of all-time greats if he continues his progress.
“At 22, he has the same skill factor as Pelé or Maradona,” he said. “Pelé played in an era where there were some fantastic players — Alfredo Di Stéfano, Eusébio, Johan Cruyff — while Maradona was the player of his era, head and shoulders above everyone else. Cristiano has got to the level of the best players in the world and thereafter it’s left to people to see if he’s as good as Pelé and Maradona. That’s in front of him. That’s the challenge.”
It is a challenge that Ronaldo intends to take on. “I think I’m at the right club,” he said last night. “This is why I sign. I want to win trophies. The supporters have helped me so much and I’m happy here. I think I’m in a good moment here because I learn so much. “I want to keep going like that and to win trophies with this club.”
