There can be no doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo fully merits his place among the game’s elite, having been chosen as both European and World player of the year.
Were keeping him at Manchester United a decision to be made purely on his merit, performances and returns as a footballer, he would never, ever leave if the club had anything to do with it.
But there's no doubt that at some level Ronaldo wants to play for Real Madrid. Perhaps his Latin blood draws him to the Spanish giants; perhaps he simply wants to live in a sunnier climate. At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter.
His professional head will be telling him that Manchester United are currently a better team and a better-run club with stronger prospects on the field, but he can't resist a romantic urge to become a new-wave Galactico and wear Madrid’s white.
This presents his current employers with a significant dilemma. While they hold a strong negotiating position at present, with the player under contract until 2012, they run the risk of him running down that contract, not signing an extension, and leaving for relatively little by way of a transfer fee in the future.
Liverpool’s Fernando Torres has openly and publicly committed himself to Anfield by signing a new deal – dare United offer one to Ronaldo and invoke the possibility of him rejecting it?
By Simon West
