No Manchester United or Paris Saint-Germain. Cristiano Ronaldo is busy with Portugal at the moment, but a close second comes the contract extension with Real Madrid, the team that after everything said and written, will probably remain his team for more than the next couple of years.
The appeal of Manchester United has always been Alex Ferguson. Maybe staying at Real Madrid means choosing money over heart, as much as a global brand like Manchester United can represent loyalty over money, but everything is relative in the world of football, and no club seems more like about ambition and signing the best in the world, regardless of who, what and where , like Real Madrid, and usually spending more than anyone in the process.
According to Jose Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t willing to listen to anyone about tactics or hear criticism. Funny that just before his fallout with the player, he was able to praise him in every possible way to every willing and unwilling ear about his commitment, ability and work ethic.
Even if Ronaldo is the prima donna he is often made out to be, it just doesn’t make sense for him to join United at the moment. Their chances of success aren’t greater than Real Madrid, with the Champions League being a complete disaster over the last couple of seasons. They cannot offer him more money than Real do at the moment, and maybe the biggest reason of all is David Moyes, who hardly holds any sort of international appeal when it comes to players of Ronaldo’s stature.
According to Florentino Perez, Ronaldo is going to be a Real Madrid player till the end of his career. Right now, he’s signed until 2015, but in the negotiations that have been going on for over a year, mostly about his image rights and how much of them the club can own (it’s currently 60-40 in favor of Ronaldo), it’ll be something that keeps him at the club until 2018, when he’ll be 33.
Ronaldo himself doesn’t like to speak about things that aren’t Portugal and qualifying for the World Cup when he’s with the national team, but he seems confident issues with Real Madrid will be resolved in the best of ways.
I am well, calm and not worried about it. I know we will reach a deal. I wonder if his reaction would have been the same had Portugal not beaten Russia 1-0.
Suddenly, without Jose Mourinho darkening the mood of about half the players at the club, the future looks much brighter, and all the talk of stars leaving or forcing ultimatums on the board are gone. Without keeping Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s goal of remaining close to Barcelona in the chase of Spanish and somewhat European dominance is gone both on the pitch and in the commercial battlefield. There’s no reason for them not to do anything in their power to keep the player, and Real Madrid, at least when it comes to personnel, usually get their way.