The Ronnie Fallout

Before we get on with discussing Ronaldo's move, I think it is important to state just for those within the British media who think that the M62 bubble in the North West of England is the centre of the footballing universe. If you asked me to list the 20 best players in the world, how many would play in the English league? Rooney, Gerrard, Torres, Fabregas. I'd wager a lot more would ply their trade in Spain.

Anyway, looking at this situation - these things are fairly obvious:

(a) Ronaldo wanted to leave Manchester United, whatever he said publicly.
(b) Sir Alex Ferguson wanted him to stay at Manchester United.
(c) Eventually the money on the table was so bonkers they had to give up.

There are some problems here for Fergie. Firstly, whatever you think about Ronaldo, he is an outstanding talent and truly one of the world's greatest players. Whilst Messi may be a better dribbler, Iniesta a better thinker and Xavi a better passer, Ronaldo is unique in his goalscoring and creating ability. Furthermore, he can play in a number of positions and score any number of sorts of goals (free kicks, penalties, headers as well as goals from open play) make him an astonishing attacking threat. In the last three seasons, he has played 155 games and scored 91 goals - a supreme record for a player who doesn't always start in attack. Like his namesake, he is a phenomenon.

The problem? No matter how much you get for him, he is difficult to replace. Kaka, Messi, Torres and so on are not available. Ribery, Villa, Eto'o, Robben and Benzema might be. Where does he turn?

It is simply a fact that Ronaldo has been key to their success over the last few seasons - to replace him will cost money and spending money doesn't guarantee success (as Fergie's signings of Veron and, to an extent, Berbatov prove), and spending large amounts of money doesn't guarantee immediate gelling even if it can bring about long-term success.

Fabiano is a name that hasn't been mentioned. Ribery is as close to a like for like replacement as he can get. Benzema looks like a phenomenal talent but was dismal at Euro 2008. However, one needs to understand Fergie. Yes, he can throw money around for wonderful players (Ferdinand, Rooney, Berbatov) but he is also a canny old dog.

Remember when he got rid of Beckham? He replaced him with a relative unknown who had played for one season at Sporting CP. A relative unknown who admittedly cost £12m. That man has just been sold for £80m (or 4/5ths of Newcastle's). He may look for someone off everyone else's radar. He is unrivalled, in my opinion, in developing talent.

Whilst he needs to replace Ronaldo, he will also realise that he needs to bring in a number of players. I think he needs a long-term replacement for van der Sar, he probably needs a defensive midfielder, he probably needs a winger and a striker. That's at least four players and possibly five.

They may also need to find replacements for Scholes (who will play less and less), Tevez and a midfielder (I'm not sure Hargreaves will ever be what he was and Fergie will probably be risk averse enough to beef up that area). It will be an interesting summer.

RCM