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The transfer fee that is doing the rounds today for Cristiano Ronaldo is 80 million pounds! A whopping 80 million pounds! Any club might be tempted by such a windfall, so there is no doubt why the press and everyone else is considering a Ronaldo move from Manchester United to Real Madrid to be only a matter of time.

However, there are more than just monetary reasons why United should hold on to the man from Madeira. Till recently, the Spanish and Italian leagues held a virtual monopoly over players from the Iberian peninsula and Latin America. As the Portuguese league is not considered an elite football league, at least not in the same rung as its Italian, Spanish and English equivalents, clubs from Spain and Italy, especially the former could expect to snap up top player from Portugal.

And the absence of language and cultural barrier facilitated a player’s move from South America to Spain. Not to mention that the English Premier League is seen as playing a different kind of football - faster(?), more physical and with referees offering little protection to players.

Now with the emergence of the Premier League as the gold standard soccer league, players from all over the world are considering a move to England. Jose Mourinho’s reign as manager of Chelsea meant that quite a few players from Portugal were brought to England.

Manchester United did have some sort of a negative reputation considering that the then Argentina captain Juan Sebastian Veron’s sojourn at Old Trafford did not go very well. Veron’s countryman, the defender Gabriel Heinze did impress everyone during his first season, but an injury and poor performances led to a rather acrimonious exit from Old Trafford, when United snubbed Liverpool’s advances for the left-back to sell him to Real.

However, Cristiano Ronaldo settled very well at the club, and the way the club helped him overcome the criticism and boos he received over his role in Wayne Rooney’s dismissal in the 2006 World Cup were heartwarming. The increasingly pivotal role that Carlos Quieroz has taken on in the coaching hierarchy at United, what with Sir Alex Ferguson himself considering Quieroz his possible successor has put United in a good position to attract talents from Portugal, which has emerged as one of the footballing heavyweights. This was evident in the way United were able to engineer a double coup successfully by bringing in Nani and Anderson both from F.C. Porto last summer. It was widely reported that Ronaldo helped the two young midfielders settle down to life in the north of England.

If Ronaldo does leave United to the warmer climes of the Spanish capital, it will throw a dent in United efforts to bring in more players from their feeder clubs in Portugal. Now, with Luiz Felipe Scolari taking over the reins at Stamford Bridge, the Red Devils face even stiffer competition in bringing players to their fold. Add to this some reports that suggest Carlos Quieroz might replace Scolari as the new Portuguese national coach. Quieroz, who has been some sort of a father figure to the likes of Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson, might complicate United’s position if he departs.

Moreover, if Ronaldo does leave, it will only buttress the belief that Real Madrid are the bigger club. Though United were recently confirmed the world’s richest club, and also their form and style of gameplay in the past couple of seasons have been the best in Europe (culminating in their winning the Champions League at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow last month), Real will psychologically go one up on United if they get their man.

So, despite the economic sense that a Ronaldo transfer makes, and the possibility of bringing in more players, Man United should their best to hold on their prized possession.

by Vijay | on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 9:48 pm | Opinions . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.