Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has accused Real Madrid and Barcelona of using his winger Cristiano Ronaldo as a bargaining tool in their internal politics.
The two Spanish giants have been linked with a move for the Portuguese international but Ferguson believes part of the speculation is fired by propaganda in the presidency battles at Real and Barcelona.
“Let’s be perfectly clear about Real Madrid and Barcelona,” Ferguson told reporters. “Their elections are in the summer.
“Since I have been at United and elections have been on in these two clubs, the best players in the world are used. There’s no doubt about that.”
Ferguson said the in-form Ronaldo was aware of the situation at Real and Barcelona.
“Make no mistake, Cristiano is intelligent enough to realise he is being used as a pawn,” said the Scot.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the star of the show in Manchester United’s 4-1 victory against Bolton at Old Trafford. Park Ji-sung and Wayne Rooney stole some limelight though, banging in 2 goals each.
Before the start of the game, Sir Alex Ferguson and Ryan Giggs received their Manager and Player of the Month respectively for the month of February.
Manchester United looked destined to open the score with their aggressive attack right from the kick off. Park came the closest, and should have scored in early minutes, but missed a good chance from 3 yards.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been called a “cheat” and a “diver” by Gareth Southgate this season but Julio Arca believes his manager should see the bigger picture.
Middlesbrough’s renascent Argentinian feels the Manchester United winger’s flaws are thoroughly out-weighed by his extraordinary talent and was proud to swap shirts with Ronaldo at the end of last weekend’s 2-2 FA Cup draw between the sides. “He’s the best player in the world,” enthused Arca last week. “Ronaldo is better than Ronaldinho at the moment.”
Ironically the former Sunderland midfielder arguably outshone the Portuguese on a quarter-final afternoon when he memorably nutmegged Ronaldo. It is a feat he would love to repeat during tomorrow’s replay at Old Trafford.
“After I did it, he said ‘nice one’; that was good to hear,” recalled Arca. “We were laughing together about it after the game and we swapped shirts; I can’t see anything wrong with him.”
The video maker mentioned that his intention was to show everyone the worst of Cristiano Ronaldo; that people need to see how much of a worthless cunt he is.
I am thinking that the video maker might be a CR’s fan. The video does show some stupid moments from Ronaldo, but pretty funny actually…
World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi has told Cristiano Ronaldo that he’ll never find a better club than Manchester United.
The 58-year-old, who led Italy to the World Cup in Germany last summer and has won five Serie A titles with Juventus and the Champions League, has warned the coveted 22-year-old against leaving Old Trafford.
The Italian said: “To get to a better team or a better club would be difficult for Cristiano Ronaldo.
“He is a great player with genius and imagination and great technical skills.”
Spanish giant Real Madrid is reportedly confident of signing Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of the season.
In a story headed “This one will get the Bernabeu on its feet,” sports daily Marca said Thursday that Madrid president Ramon Calderon has made the Portugal forward’s signing “an absolute priority” even though “he will cost a fortune.”
Calderon has reportedly been informed by Madrid’s sports director Predrag Mijatovic and marketing director Jose Angel Sanchez that the deal would be “viable and profitable” despite the size of the transfer fee.
Marca said Ronaldo “wants to leave United” due to a wish to play closer to home, but the newspaper story contrasts with recent comments by United’s chief executive David Gill that the 22-year-old winger “wants to stay.”
Manchester United chief executive David Gill is confident that Cristiano Ronaldo will extend his contract at Old Trafford this summer.
Ronaldo’s representatives are in talks with the club over extending the 22-year-old’s current deal, which runs until 2010.
“Discussions are ongoing so we’re not going to put a timeline against them,” Gill told BBC Radio Four. “The player wants to say, we want him to stay and I’m sure we’ll reach a satisfactory conclusion.”
Ronaldo has made no secret of a desire to one day play in Spain, but he has firmly stated that his immediate future is in Manchester.
“Every United fan can be reassured he won’t be leaving this summer,” added Gill. “It would be realistic to extend it by a further two years to 2012 - the same time that Wayne Rooney has signed for.”