Real Madrid and Ronaldo

Turns out that Florentino Perez isn't going to bid for Cristano Ronaldo if he's elected president of Real Madrid. The deal was struck by Ramon Calderon, and now that Calderon's stepped down as president, it's not going ahead. The fact that the pre-contract agreement with Ronaldo is illegal probably didn't help, either. 

There's another reason, as well. 

The £75 million that Ramon Calderon was willing to stump up for Ronaldo was apparently Real Madrid's entire transfer budget. Perez has wisely decided that discretion is the best part of valour, and will ration out the joy with a series of "mini-Galactico" purchases. It's a far cry from the days of mega-signings like Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and em... Thomas Gravesen, but maybe in the face of the greatest recession since the Great Depression, we've all got to tighten our belts. 

Perez will have to content himself with trying to sign Kaka, Ribery, Xabi Alonso, David Villa....

Meanwhile, Wenger will probably have £50 million to spend. After he sell Adebayor, of course. It's a heck of a lot of money, and if it's all spent, it could aid us immeasurably. Maybe we could buy some of Madrid's surplus players? Or make a bid for Villa and Silva before the other big clubs do? It's worth a shot. Money in the bank's dead money. But money squandered in a wild, extravagant splurge? 

That's pure Perez. 

Man Utd Syndrome

"The important thing is that we have ended all the stuff about Real Madrid and as he gets older, he will appreciate being here more. That happens with players the longer they stay here and they don't want to leave."

- Alex Ferguson, quasi-kidnapper and manager of Man Utd.

It's called Stockholm Syndrome, and it's nothing to be proud of.

Ronaldo wants to leave. He's made that very clear. He's won everything there is to win in England, and he wants another challenge. He wants adulation and hero-worship, tapas and funky nightclubs, and a bevy of sexy senoritas lining the footpath to his mansion.

He also wants more money.

We can berate him for being greedy and materialistic. But let's not fall into the trap of thinking he's over-paid. Ronaldo is probably the best player in the world, in the most popular sport in the world. He earns $250,000 a week, which translates as $AUS 12 million a year. How much would Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez or Michael Schumacher be paid? A lot more. And a CEO of a multinational earns much, much more. Ronaldo is exceedingly well-paid, but when you compare him with the top earners in other professions, it ain't that much.

I think Ronaldo will leave at the end of the year. They've struck some sort of bargain so that Man Utd save face and Ronaldo doesn't look like a complete tosser. Ronaldo pledges his eternal devotion to Man Utd for one season, and Man Utd get to leech off his talent for one more year. And next year, there'll be a world-record transfer to Real Madrid.

It boils down to this - Ronaldo wants to leave, and Fergie wants him to stay. Fergie wants him to stay so he can suck on his proverbial teat one last time. Man Utd isn't the same side without Ronaldo. Fergie wants to squeeze that dude dry, tease another couple of Champions Leagues out of his talent, and flog him off when he's thirty and just a withered, dessicated piece of perma-tanned Portugese leather.

At times like this, I remember what Wenger said after Vieria rejected the offer from Real Madrid. He said that he hoped Vieria wasn't staying because he was comfortable. I liked that. Wenger wanted Vieria to continue to challenge himself, to continue to grow. I get the feeling Wenger really cares for his players. He looks after them, wants them to be the best that they can be. And if it means that they have to leave Arsenal to do so, he'll let them do so.

I'm really proud of Arsene Wenger for that.

Slavery in Football

"There's too much modern slavery, in transferring players or buying players. We are trying now to intervene in such cases. The reaction to the Bosman law is to make long-lasting contracts to keep the players, and then if he wants to leave there is only one solution, he has to pay his contract."

- Sepp Blatter, about Cristano Ronaldo

Sepp Blatter says the darnest things. It must be part of the job description for president of FIFA. I still chuckle over his "female footballers should wear skimpy clothes" line. Classic Sepp, that.

There is an element of truth to this quote. Impoverished young footballers from underdeveloped nations can get sucked up by unscrupulous agents, made to sign lengthy, exploitive contracts, and dumped in Europe. There is the unwholesome taint of slavery with some aspects of commericalised professional football.

I remember the MSI-Tevez-Mascherano saga with West Ham a couple of years ago. That seemed a bit exploitive, to have one's registration held by an agent, and being parked at a Premier League club. And I heard that that situation is pretty common in South America, where a promising young player would raise funds by selling his registration to investors. It's a bit like indentured service.

However, a contract is also a good thing for a player. A club will pay a player a guaranteed salary regardless of injury, poor form or poor behaviour. In return, a player will play exclusively for that club. Quid pro quo. The club takes a punt on the player's ability to perform, and a player commits to a certain time frame.

If Sepp was really planning to abolish contracts, we'll end up with a situation where a club can sack a player with two weeks' severance pay. There'll be no security at all. That might go well for the best players in the world, who can flit from big contract to big contract, but it won't be as good for the mediocre player who suddenly develops a niggling, undiagnosed injury.

I don't know what the solution is, but when you get down to it, no one twisted Cristiano Ronaldo's arm and made him commit to four years (or whatever). He negotiated the length of his contract himself. He accepted a fixed salary for a set number of years, over negotiating a shorter length contract without the security of the guaranteed income. He signed a contract.

And the contract should be honoured.

Ronaldo's leaving?

"I want to play for Real Madrid, but only if it is true they are eager to pay me and Manchester United what they have been saying they will. However, it does not depend on me."

- Cristano Ronaldo, about the only transfer rumour that has legs

I'm not going to talk much about Adebayor going to Milan for 32 million. That's just stupid. He's not worth that much. Milan aren't that rich. And Arsene Wenger's too stubborn to sell a guy for a vastly inflated fee - he'd rather they run down their contract and go on a Bosman.

The Cristano Ronaldo deal makes my head hurt. 78 million is a lot of money. 200,000 pounds a week is a lot of money. I'm flabbergasted that any club is rolling around in that amount of cash. I'm not even sure what you would buy with 200,000 a week. I'd probably do my grocery shopping at a gourmet grocer and then put the rest in the bank. I might even indulge in a new pair of ugg boots. But otherwise, what's the point of all that money?

It'll be interesting to see how Man Utd would cope without Ronaldo. Anecdotally, he's the only reason for their recent run of form. He has been playing brilliantly these past two years, and it'll be impossible to fill his position. I suppose they'll buy Benzema and Robinho? And maybe and revert to a 4-4-1-1? The mind boggles at the FM fantasy team they could set up with that kind of cash.

But one thing's for sure - it's nice to see Real Madrid target a non-Arsenal player for a change. I hope Fabregas isn't the jealous type.