No more signings at Manchester United as Ronaldo money goes to accoutants
Michael Owen - United's new #7
Something in me was truly hoping this doesn’t happen… The state of Manchester United debt is known to all fans, but the scale of the catastrophe that is losing Ronaldo, blinded us from that fact. The quest to replace our stolen idol had consumed us, and made us fathom about all sorts of saviors that might become our next “It Boy”. From Ribery to Aguero, without forgetting Benzema the list of potential messiahs went on.
Just yesterday Eto’o was being pimped by his agent to Sir Alex after City Chairman Khaldoon told Barcelona he will not be made a fool of. Seeing the price tag slapped on Eto’o and his wage demands, the Glazers would never go for such a deal, especially since it wasreported last month that they were changing the club’s transfer policy to concentrate on signing players under 26.
What this means is that the Glazers will only be spending serious money on players who can be resold for profit later on. This should automatically disqualify Eto’o as a transfer candidate, but seeing as how very few clubs are interested in the Cameroonian striker, I had a feeling if the price tag dropped by the end of the transfer window, this deal might see the light of day.
But all that ended today as Sir Alex stated he will not be dragged into an escalating transfer market, saying: “I think that has concluded our business” while handing Owen the No 7 shirt.
It seems both Owen and United management have the firm belief that once Michael steps on that pitch in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday in the No 7 shirt vacated by Cristiano Ronaldo he will be that “wonderkid” we all love again.
“It doesn’t hurt [to be written off] when you believe in yourself, but if this challenge doesn’t create a hunger and put a spring in my step, then nothing will (…) I am as hungry as ever and I don’t need to prove it to people who question that. Playing for a manager like Sir Alex Ferguson and a club like United says it all for me.” – said Owen. As far as I’m concerned, from your mouths to God’s ears Michael.
But us United fans are left with a bitter taste in our mouth, the feeling that our squad has been left weakened. Sir Alex insists “No matter what players we have got in, we are still going to be strong next season.” – True we have a squad that most teams would only dream of, but we sold Ronaldo for God’s sake! Shouldn’t we get some sort of consolation prize?
And this is where the sh!t hits the fan, a few years ago if you asked any economist about the potential dangers or running a business based on a debt model, he would have laughed so hard his sides would have hurt, the markets were booming, debt was the way to do business. I even said it back then “If there was one team that can pull off being ran through debt, its Manchester United”.
Well we can certainly pull it off, but we will have to pay the price. It seems obvious seeing the transfer policy adopted by the Glazers that we will be in the business of making Ronaldos and selling them to the likes Real for a while. When Sir Alex says : “We are in the middle of a very difficult summer in football because it has been very difficult to get value. But I think we have got good value and that is the right way to go for us (…) As for Benzema, as far as we were concerned he was beyond our value. People have got to try and put a value on players which they think is fair. Lyon have done well to get 42m euro for him (…) What does that tell people about Manchester United? It tells you we are sensible. Real Madrid are not nearly as afraid of debt as anyone else in the world, but we’re happy the way we operate.”
What I understand is; we are already in huge debt and we have to pay it back, Real are not and they’re buying players left and right, inflating price tags everywhere. So I will do what I do best. I will mold youngsters with huge potential into stars… Oh wait, will Joel and Avram sell them?
Here is the reality check: Not only is the “sugar-daddy” business football model proving to be the best in these rough times, but the more serious issue is that we will be playing a different kind of football next season. Not only is Valencia not in the same class as Ronaldo, but he’s a different type of winger, more orthodox than the attacking all-rounder Ronaldo was, he will dribble and distribute, putting the serious task of goal creation on the shoulders of Rooney and whoever is next-to-him/in-front-of-him.
“Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov are Ferguson’s first-choice strikers and Owen could be used as an impact substitute in deadlocked games, or as a flat-track bully to convert chances against lesser opponents.” said Rob Stewart of the Telegraph, a statement shrugged off by Graeme Souness in the same article.
Former England manager Glen Hoddle went a step further in saying Owen Will Be Better Than Tevez with “the likes of Rooney, Berbatov and Valencia around him” … ”He will thrive at United.”
Well thats the squad for next year folks, it might be nice being an underdog for once!
Great article….what I am hoping to see is a more united united…with Valencia in the team we have a player who also does the dirty work while being an outlet to stretch teams. Last year Ronaldo lost some of his dribbling ability and became more focussed on scoring and drifted to the centre much more so with valencia we should create more chances and if michael is even a bit like what he was…he should score lots
he hads lost it utd lose more games.
it will be to late in jan buy will be out pal race.
So Real Madrid are not in debt? That’s a new one. What were the 400m loans then?
And how is the sugar daddy model better than normal business sense? What about City and Chelsea being in nearly £1bn debt each and not generating enough revenue to cover the wages. What happens when Abramovich wants his money back or ADUG.
I think it’s time that FIFA and UEFA limited clubs finances so that wages can only account for half the clubs revenue. That would bring a bit more sense into football. How is it right that City for example can spend money that they don’t have and will never be able to earn?
Well the money for the Real transfers came as loans but not from banks but from private stakeholders of the club. Perez went to the richest of the 80000 owners and took loans from them promising to pay it off from merchandising. So while it is a loan, nowhere as scary at the 700 million we have.
However, while everyone (including me for a short while) is flipping out about replacing tevez and Ronaldo with owen (unfit), valencia (over-rated) and Obertan (who?), i dont think this has anything to do with the debt issue at all. Last summer we pulled of Berbatov for 30 million, with 80 million in the bank this time round do you really think we couldnt not have afforded 40 million on say a Ribery? Ofcourse we could but why should we ? Fergie is being pragmatic. Prices are ridiculously inflated right now, so wait until December when the other big clubs are done spending and sign who we want then, for 25% less. It worked out well for Evra and Vidic. Granted they were rubbish in their first few games but now ! So if we take a long term view of the transfer policy, it just makes sense.
I think all of us just need to back off the Football Manager mindset a bit and live by, ” In Fergie we trust”
Well said, A. I agree on all fronts.
SAF is such a hypocrite. I saw his whole interview and he just went on and on complaining about Real’s new transfer policy. The question I ask him is, how can you demand a record-breking shitload of money for Ronaldo and then complain about how much Real Madrid is spending. The price inflation is as much the fault of Man U, AC Milan, and Lyon as Madrid, not to mention Man City and Chelsea who are even worse than Real in that they have their foreign benefactors instead of socios.
i think i need to review your opinion of Sir Alex then… let me make it clear that the ronaldo deal was reportedly finalized b4 the season ended. And the 80 mil Real paid for him is quite worth it. coz if ur selling a player like Cristiano Ronaldo, u would have to be really stupid manager to sell him for less than 75 mil atleast.
secondly… SAF blasted Real’s “spending spree”, not the price they paid for ronaldo.. He was referring to the combined price theyve paid for jus 4 players (€221m),{YET}… without any guarantee of its total recovery by selling its Dutch regiment… price inflation as u say, is the fault of any club with either big ambitions or big players.
The point is that the price inflation about which he complains is a direct result of Ronaldo’s record-breaking transfer fee which was to his profit. Sure, the other transfers have impacted the market but the player he sold is the one who is most responsible for distorting prices.
Personally I think that when a player with cristianos caliber goes u need 2 replace him with some1 in that league and valencia is useless as tits on a bull, owen was an awesome player but its going 2 take something just short of a miracle for hum 2 come back and play like he did for liverpool. Im a man u fan through and through but this year I have a few doubts……..SAF prove me wrong
I’m afraid ManU won’t be able to win anything next season
This all seems to be a very smart play to me. (OK I’m a United fan so will confess to being somewhat predisposed to viewing Sir Alex’s transfer dealings in a positive way). When you are managing anything; business, charity, football club, it’s never a good idea to overpay for something. You just can’t win by overpaying all the time. Much better to bide your time and build around this problem – bring in cost effective players and develop existing ones into new roles/responsibilities until the market changes. This is a risk – you can’t deny that. But it’s also a risk to spend £50m on some untried, overrated twenty something. So a risk either way, but the main difference being that with SAF’s approach you still have the fifty big ones to change your tack, most likely at a time when any selling club owner has forgotten about Ronaldo the record breaker. As for being a hypocrite, well come on, it is obscene that they (RM) can spend the kind of money that they do when they can’t finance it out of revenue, but since SAF can’t change it he better profit from it if he wants Man Utd to stay at the top level over the next few seasons.
well 1st of all i’m a chelsea fan.but i really wanna see mu beat real at the ucl with owen(no7) scoring ^^
lalala…
… Im a liverpool fan … Bt 2 comment on al that has been said over the yearz prices do go up 4 cars , food n nw soccer players bt 80mil is alota money 4 1 guy …. N uniteds team has lost alot …. N its gona be a great challenge 4 them 2 win any silverwear this season expecialy wit no real gud playmaker … N as for owen his time is up , his injury prone n slow he wnt b able to keep up wit rooney or valencia or park ji or any other foward or winger …. Man u is in need of a gud playmaker
IF SIR ALEX REFUSE TO USE THIS OPPOTUNITY TO SIGN A GOOD STRIKER AS ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVICH AM NOT SURE EVERYTHING WILL BE AS USUAL
You just cannot demand an exorbitant sum for a single player and then turn around and criticize the inflated prices of players. If Man U had sold Ronaldo for 50-60 mil, then the other clubs that have sold to Real also would not have demanded such prices, and price inflation this summer would not be nearly as much of an issue as SAF is making it out to be. And FYI Real Madrid will be able to support this spending spree with revenue, or else they would not have bought so many players.
Feeling defensive Ruud?? Whatever you say everyone will be gunning for Real this season. They’re the most despised club on the planet now!