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Vote: Does Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid make you sad?

Published by Robert Nolan on June 21, 2009

Cristiano Ronaldo’s record breaking move to Real Madrid has spread outrage throughout the footballing community…everyone has an opinion, and everyone wants to express it. For us, your opinion counts…and that’s why we want to hear from you!!

POLL QUESTION: Does Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid make you sad?

Here’s a short profile of CR7, and an overview of how the move became possible. Also, we consider what Fantasy Football is set to lose with the departure of the Premier League’s best player:

2003: A shy, tentative and talented young lad who was reluctant to take on the ‘No 7′ shirt after greats such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and David Beckham. He was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson after being urged by the Manchester United players who noticed his raw talent in a 3-1 defeat to Sporting Lisbon.

Price Tag: 12.24 million pounds

2009: The world’s best footballer!! (Messi fans please keep your opinions to yourselves!)
He has made the legendary Manchester United ‘No 7′ his own. A confident, almost cocky attitude, and skills to match. After being nurtured at United for a number of years, he’s peaking…and is he!

Price Tag: 80 million pounds

Cristiano has always maintained that it was a childhood dream of his to play for Spanish giants Real Madrid. Over the past 3 years or so, Real have done everything in their power to lure him to Madrid, only to be snubbed by United every time. As long as he is happy at a club, no manager would want to sell him… no matter what the price tag.

An inspirational 2007-08 season saw him power United to a Premier League and Champions League double. A record breaking second consecutive Champions League title was in the offing when Manchester United faced off against Spanish Champions Barcelona in Rome. Many said that this match would determine who was the best: Messi or Ronaldo?

10 years after United won the most dramatic Champions League final in history, it seemed destiny was on United’s side… specially considering their performance in the opening 10 minutes of the match. But it wasn’t to be… Samuel Eto’o scored against the run of play, and United never recovered. It only seemed fair that it was Lionel Messi who put the result beyond doubt with a sublime header in the second half. Many said that Sir Alex’s tactics went awry, but most said that it just wasn’t United’s night…and it just wasn’t Cristiano Ronaldo’s night.

Real Madrid presidency came back to Florentino Perez, who promised to rekindle the glory of the Galactico days, and aimed to build a better team that the one during the days of Beckham, Luis Figo, Zidane and the Brazilian Ronaldo. He was quick to deliver on his promise, with the capture of playmaker Kaka from AC Milan for ?65 million. When he said that he would bring Ronaldo to Madrid, United fans said he was bluffing. But as it turns out, Madrid have an ?80 million bid accepted by the United management. Sir Alex Ferguson said that Ronaldo expressed a desire to leave, else he would never have agreed to sell him.

Whatever be the case, and however things may have unfolded, it is now certain that the best player in the Premier League will no longer be a part of the English game. How does that affect us, both as Manchester United fans, and also as fans of Fantasy Football? There’s no doubt that the Manchester United faithful must be nursing broken hearts, but we, as Fantasy Football players, stand to lose a lot as well. Ronaldo represented the very best of the English Premier League. The numerous personal and club honours he has received over the past two years bear testimony to the fact. He won both the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or last year, apart from being the highest scorer in both the domestic and the European game.

Those of us who had him in our Fantasy teams regularly know exactly what he’s worth. Even though he was the costliest player by a good 2 million pounds, one could rest assured that he would deliver, even in the most difficult situations. He was value for money. A week when Ronaldo performed badly on Fantasy was rare, and we loved him! Despite joining late this season on account of surgery, he very nearly clinched the Barclay’s Golden Boot award for being the top scorer in the league! We’re sure to miss those numerous braces and assists, those sparkling dribbles and immaculate crosses…those silken skills and towering headers.

Many experts say that the move to the Spanish capital will lead to his downfall, but he is following his childhood dream… and we wish him all the best! It will be nice to see Messi versus Ronaldo a bit more often, with Kaka and Iniesta also thrown into the fray!

All of you Fantasy Footballers must be having your own opinions regarding this World Record breaking move, and we’d like to hear your views!