McClair Backs Sale of Ronaldo

Brian McClair has backed Manchester United's decision to sell Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Red Devils youth director has been around Old Trafford for long enough to know there is unlikely to be a catastrophic fall from grace as a result of Ronaldo's exit.

While some pundits believe Ronaldo's £80million departure for Real Madrid, plus Carlos Tevez's decision to quit United after two productive seasons on a lease agreement with his adviser Kia Joorabchian, McClair is adopting a more pragmatic view.

"Manchester United have been here before," said McClair on his Championship Manager blog.

"Look back at the club's history.

"George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham have departed United in some shape or form and the club has continued to thrive and, in certain cases, gone on to bigger and better things.

"A club as big as United is going to have big players and players move on. That is a fact of football life.

"No one player is irreplaceable. Put it another way, nobody is bigger than the club. Selling Ronaldo to Real Madrid is good business."

While few supporters will lament the loss of Ronaldo's histrionics and many believe Wayne Rooney is more than capable of being the fulcrum of a new-look team, they will expect Sir Alex Ferguson to bring in some quality reinforcements with the world record fee Ronaldo commanded.

Antonio Valencia is due to let Wigan know at the end of this week whether he would prefer to join United or Real Madrid.

However, it already appears Franck Ribery's heart is set on the Bernabeu. Certainly the £40million-rated star would prefer to join the growing throng at Real than leave Bayern Munich for Barcelona, while noises coming out of Lyon continue to hint at Karim Benzema remaining in France for another season.

Reports in Spain have suggested Ferguson is ready to make a move for Sergio Aguero, who has forged such an impressive partnership with Diego Forlan at Atletico Madrid.

However, the success Forlan has enjoyed in La Liga compared to the lamentable time he endured at United, is a reminder of how tough South American strikers can find it in the Premier League, which must leave a sizeable question mark against the Argentina star.

source : football365.com

Charlton: We've Had Ronaldo's Best Years

UNITED legend Sir Bobby Charlton believes Cristiano Ronaldo will eventually regret leaving Old Trafford.



The 71-year-old, who has spent more than half a century with his beloved Reds, is confident Sir Alex Ferguson will find a suitable replacement but thinks the £80m fee for the Portuguese superstar is 'vulgar.'

"It is an enormous amount of money and it sometimes seems a little bit vulgar," Charlton said on club business in Beijing where the Reds signed a five-year partnership deal with electronics brand Aigo.

"But nevertheless that is business, I am afraid. We have responsibilities as a company and to all the fans that support United and it was decided that Ronaldo could go.

"It's a lot of money. It seems crazy really, but the more money the players cost, the more the TV companies appear to be able to contribute.

"Ronaldo is a great player. I suppose in time, he will reflect and say the best time he ever had in football was when he was at United."

Charlton admits time will tell whether the sale of Ronaldo to Real Madrid was the right one.

He said: "There's been a little bit of soul-searching. We shall never know until the season starts. It's an enormous amount. We will make sure we will use it properly and the club will be better for it."

Ronaldo has scored 118 goals in 291 appearances since he joined United in 2003 but Charlton doesn't think he is irreplaceable.

"Instead of him? I'll have to leave that to Alex Ferguson. The manager is a great judge of the player," he said.

Brave

"He is very brave, he's very brave with his decisions, he's very decisive with his decisions, and that is why he's been a major success. Who the player will be I don't know, but they will be worthy of putting on the shirt for United.

"Ronaldo leaves us because as a young boy he always dreamt about playing for Real Madrid, so if he leaves us it is with our blessing.

"We are very grateful that he has scored goals, that he has played well, that he's contributed to the fame of United.

"He is a great player. He's been with us for five or six years and in that time he has improved beyond all recognition. But we have no divine rights, we talked him out of it for one year but he's gone and we move on."

United have already switched their attentions to finding Ronaldo's successor and making a dent in their £80m windfall.

Wigan's Antonio Valencia looks first on the shopping list although United will face competition from Real Madrid for him and for strike target Karim Benzema.

Latics chairman Dave Whelan said: "United definitely remain very interested in Valencia. I am expecting the transfer market to really rev up come next week when people return from holidays."

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has once again stated that the 21-year-old Benzema wants to stay at the Stade Gerland but accepts events could change.

"Karim has said that he wants to stay another year at Lyon," said Aulas who admitted he has been approached over a possible deal for the French hit-man.

"He's staying but I think that Kaka or Ronaldo imagined remaining with their respective clubs," he said.

Sir Alex Ferguson returns from his holiday in the South of France in the middle of next week and will be looking to get his plans in place quickly.

Firstly, he needs to know if Carlos Tevez will be staying or moving on - possibly to City.

source : manchestereveningnews.co.uk

I'm not Finished - Hargreaves

Owen Hargreaves has claimed he is not finished with football and the Manchester United ace has insisted he can play on.

The injury-prone England midfielder, who has made two league appearances this season, was not expected to be back in action until January 2010 after undergoing knee surgery last November.

But Hargreaves, who has made only 25 starts in two years since his big money move from Bayern Munich, has affirmed that he could be back playing for United in October.

The 28-year-old said: “I’m going to come back stronger and hopefully add a couple of years to my career.

“It’s been so frustrating. As an athlete and being so competitive, it’s hard to watch when you normally would be out there.”

source : setanta.com