Goodbye Ronaldo

[Roy Hobbs]

But you used the yankee's in your analogy, and the red sox and yankees operate the exact same way on a smaller scale.

I'm not sure that they do.  Have the Red Sox ever had an off-season like the Yankees just had?

[ederson]

I can`t comment on baseball but does anyone remember Beckham`s contract with LA? ~50m per year for a 4 year deal. That`s 200m

CR will cost 160 for 6 years.

I think i don`t need to compare Primera and Real to mls and galaxy!

[Galiza Ceive]

I think Ronaldo and Kaka can be profitable for Real Madrid but I wouldnt take it for granted as Florentino and the Spanish papers are doing. They expect to cover the investment with marketing and so but what happen if Real doesnt win anything next season? What if Kaka or Cristiano have a long-term injury or (I hope not) they have another Ferrari accident and he never recovers from that? Or simply, what happen if Kaka or Cristiano doesnt live up to the expectations and go to Ronaldinho chubby style? As any major investment, this one is a major risk and Real Madrid fans should be aware of it. It can work, but not neccessarily.

Additionally, there is a maximum number of kits you can sell and this is more or less the  number of Real supporters plus something. I will never buy any Real Madrid product even with Maradona playing for them. And the best way of attracting supporters in the long-term is winning titles.

[ederson]

Additionally, there is a maximum number of kits you can sell and this is more or less the  number of Real supporters plus something. I will never buy any Real Madrid product even with Maradona playing for them. And the best way of attracting supporters in the long-term is winning titles.

A couple of friends RM fans have never bought a kit but now asked me to buy for them when i`ll be in Madrid. CR and Kaka have a personal fan base that should be also considered. Besides Real (and a few more teams) have literaly millions of fans of their own. They don`t need barcelona`s fans (or mu`s or liverpool`s) to buy their merchantise. Big trades (and of course titles) multiple the supporters (and the money) that are willing to buy things

[crownsy]

But you used the yankee's in your analogy, and the red sox and yankees operate the exact same way on a smaller scale.

I'm not sure that they do.  Have the Red Sox ever had an off-season like the Yankees just had?

I dont think the've hit the exact number, but they've had heavy off seasons as well.

My point was this whole "buying championships" knock on teams is garbage. IF your team operates in a non-salary cap league and has the money to spend, then good for you.

I don't fault the red sox or yanks for taking advantage of having  rabid fan bases that will fund their big purchases, I certainly don't fault real madrid for doing the same.

United will be fine, they will do what they have always done, spend a high percentage of the fee on the transfer market and move on.

[MBz]

If Barcelona gets Ribery, they are still the better team in my opinion, it'll be interesting to see what happens

[Who]

I'd like to see United use the money to get a world class central midfielder. Any ideas on possible targets?

I don't think they're going to be able to replace Ronaldo, I just don't see that caliber of wing being available. Better to sign a very good wing like Valencia and/or Silva, and sign a world class player at another position.

[ederson]

Wigan`s Valencia
I agree 1000000%

I`ve read that MU targets Udineze`s Alexis Sanchez (20years old, Chile) but the Italians ask for +30m. (?!??!!)

If they`ll try to replace with one player then Ribery is the only option. He is more of a midfielder then CR so this will allow Rooney to play like a winger/striker than a side midfielder.

I think a combo of Schneider - Ribery would be enough to cover CR`s "production". Ribery is excellent one on one and can create many chances. Schneider is a huge upgrade over Anderson-Fletcher , great passer , very good long shot.

Adding Benzema to this team i think keeps MU a CL champion candidate

[celticmaestro]

I'd like to see United use the money to get a world class central midfielder. Any ideas on possible targets?

I don't think they're going to be able to replace Ronaldo, I just don't see that caliber of wing being available. Better to sign a very good wing like Valencia and/or Silva, and sign a world class player at another position.

I'd love us to now sign Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso, both outstanding young midfielders. Moutinho will one day be a world class player.

[SSFan V]

I read this as good bye Rondo.....I bet Rondo wishes he had Ronaldo's money!

[celticmaestro]

I read this as good bye Rondo.....I bet Rondo wishes he had Ronaldo's money!

You and Redz have something in common...

The way the forums are swaying I thought this was a Goodbye RONDO thread  .

[ederson]

Some financial info about Real and the transfers.


Last season Real had 95m income from two sales Robinho and Baptista. Their tranfer badget was 70m. That`s ~160m but they only used 12m for VD Vaart and 40m for Diara and Hundelaar. So now they had about 100m extra in the pocket to spend.

Univercity of Coventry estimates 70m per season income from Kaka and even more from CR. Real`s estimations are "less" optimistic and expect 90m per year from both. The meny will come from three sources
1)Bernabeu
10-25% raise in ticket prices and 100% raise for the VIP boxes.
Same about the advertisment billboards around the field.
2)TV rights.
For the next 6 years Real will get 1.100m (yes that`s 1 BILLION)euros
3)Merchandising
The deal till now was that Addidas will pay 24m per year till 2012. But now with Kaka (the face of Addidas) and mainly CR (the face of Nike!!!!) Perez will definately go for a better deal and i bet he`ll get at least 40m per year.
When Beckham signed the sales of official merchandise increased by an impressive 62%. Talking about Becks related merchandise in the first 6 months Real sold 1m kits for 50e each. Tody a kit costs 80! Today 10 days after Kaka`s signing only the Real store in Tokyo has 25.000 orders for his kit.
Also Real is the first team that started going on tour in the summer and they plan on earning 30m next summer from a single trip in Asia or America.


And the last asset is Florentino Perez himself (397th in Forbes list, 1.8bil usd)
He is the president of the biggest construction company ACS in Spain and second in europe. That makes it hard for any bank not to do bussiness with Real

[cmbvale]

I'd like to see United use the money to get a world class central midfielder. Any ideas on possible targets?

I don't think they're going to be able to replace Ronaldo, I just don't see that caliber of wing being available. Better to sign a very good wing like Valencia and/or Silva, and sign a world class player at another position.

I'd love us to now sign Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso, both outstanding young midfielders. Moutinho will one day be a world class player.

Totally agree with you on Moutinho. Veloso not so much. I've been hoping for Man U to sign Moutinho for years, maybe this is the year.

Veloso is way overrated.

[celticmaestro]

I'd like to see United use the money to get a world class central midfielder. Any ideas on possible targets?

I don't think they're going to be able to replace Ronaldo, I just don't see that caliber of wing being available. Better to sign a very good wing like Valencia and/or Silva, and sign a world class player at another position.

I'd love us to now sign Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso, both outstanding young midfielders. Moutinho will one day be a world class player.

Totally agree with you on Moutinho. Veloso not so much. I've been hoping for Man U to sign Moutinho for years, maybe this is the year.

Veloso is way overrated.

I see Veloso as a young guy with a lot of potential. If Hargreaves can't come back, then he'd be a very capable replacement who could one day be one of the top DM's in the world. Moutinho has the potential to be an absolute superstar. He's a must in my opinion.

[Casperian]

Some financial info about Real and the transfers.

It`s not the first time that Real has such a crazy summer.
I agree with you, it is possible to generate this money.
What I don`t agree with is the side effects these trades have. What if Ronaldo gets injured in hid first game? ~ 100 million for nothing. And why is Real the only club able to pull this off?

So, you have a point. But I follow soccer for too long to simply change my mind when it comes to Real Madrid. I don`t like the way they assemble their team, and I don`t like the symbol they become with this behaviour.