Ronaldo The Manc

The decision is final, the saga is over; Cristiano Ronaldo will be playing for Manchester United next season. But exactly how much has that cost United in the long term? And how much was Ronaldo paid to publicly announce his desire to continue playing for the club for at least another season?

Lots of Red Devil fans have shown their appreciation towards Ronaldo’s decision to stay on for another year, but believe he should have made his intentions clear sooner rather than later. In actuality, these fans are delusional, and have failed to see the bigger picture; Ronaldo never chose to remain at Old Trafford, Manchester United’s manager – backed by the board – forced him to remain there.

The idea is not new, nor is it a shocking revelation. Ronaldo has portrayed far from exemplary behaviour over the last couple of months, and his arrogance and grandiose demeanour simply unveiled an ugly insight into the world of the Portuguese superstar – a world in which Ronaldo fought so hard to shake off the label of United’s prodigal son, only to regain it instantaneously following his well-stated disapproval of the situation at United, his belief that his loyalty to the club for the last few years earned him a move to Real Madrid, his clandestine attempts to secure the transfer he has desperately wanted – and prolongs in wanting, and his backing of the disparaging (and quite frankly, ludicrous) remarks made by FIFA president, Sepp Blatter that “footballers are being treated like slaves”. I thought slaves received less payment than what was necessary for basic amenities. Has the purchase of an eighteenth house become a “basic amenity” in the eyes of a modern-day footballer? Are footballers subject to gruelling labour for long periods of the day, every day of the week, every week of the month, every month of the year? Are they second-class citizens in society, with fewer rights than any other member of the public? Good Lord, it's true, isn't it? Let's buy them all Porsches, just in case their Ferraris all break down; let's make sure they keep getting their “five-a-day” (caviar, foie gras, oysters, roast pheasant & champagne); let's give them unlimited access to bars and nightclubs, alongs with their overpriced escorts! If this wasn’t the lifestyle that the top-class footballer was allowed to live, it would be a downright insufferable existence, wouldn’t it? Let's end this madness now and give footballers their freedom!

One cannot deny that Ronaldo is a truly fantastic player, and would be welcome to the setup of any football club. But can he perform as well as he did last season, now that he’s been pressured into stay in the red half of Manchester? Will there be a dramatic change in fortunes this year? I wouldn’t put it past Ronaldo to play poorly out of spite. We will soon see whether he chooses to be the bigger man.

After all, he’s only going to be in England for less than a year, counting down from now. Manchester United won the battle; Real Madrid have ultimately won the war.