It is going to be fun for me to write this kind of stuff as I always enjoy comparing Real Madrid to any team, let alone Barcelona.

Real Madrid must always strive to be the best and it is this philosophy which has given Real Madrid the history that it currently has.

No club in in the world can boast as many MAJOR titles as Real Madrid despite the turmoil the club has been going through for the past 6 or 7 years.

Managers might have been changed a lot and so was the squad but that did not detract Real Madrid from signing the best players and winning the most important trophies, though we have been extremely unlucky in the Champions League for the past 6 or 7 years. Seriously, we have been. Yes we have played poor football many times against top European teams but the referees and the players themselves have not helped either.

Anyway, just to recap the news for today.

Vidic thinks that Rooney is more important to Manchester United than Ronaldo ever was so there is no way Manchester United are going to let Wayne Rooney leave Machester United for any team, especially Real Madrid.

Well, I am one of those who have admired Rooney for a long time and in fact I do rate him higher than some of the players with more flashy tricks and a better looking faces. The thing with Rooney is that, he has the talent that othe top players have like Kaka, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Messi and Ibra but the thing he has and none of the aforementioned guys do not have is his will to win, his work rate and his desire not to give up. In other words, Rooney does almost an unthinkable amount of work off the ball which none of the top players (ranked by FIFA) do. For this reason I would rather have Rooney and Gerrard in my team rather than Kaka and Ibrahimovic.

In other news, Real Madrid blew the chance to go top of La Liga by only managing a draw against Ossasuna. We should not be disheartened by this result. All the big teams looked rusty after the Christmas break and Real Madrid were no different. The important thing was that we kept on fighting till the end and did not concede any goal. Higuain had two sitters to score from but he missed them both and he does this a lot of times. Scores when you least expect him to score and misses when you least expect him to. Anyway, Real Madrid will have chances in the future as well. For me, as I said last year. The minimum we need to do is to stay within 3 points of Barcelona because beating Barcelona in the next derby is a must no matter what the league positions are. There is no way Perez or any Real Madrid fan is going to tolerate loosing to Barcelona two times in a single season.

That was it for today and I hope to seeing you tomorrow for my new SERIES.

HALA MADRID

I have been talking about the idea of installing a fair and effective rotation system that would keep the players fresh and the team in top form for sometime now. Mijatovic has made a statement that he likes this policy of Schuster and will, in future benefit the team so that Real Madrid can push for titles at the end of the season.

Relying on players like Rau’l, Guti, Casillas..etc all the time is never good, because, although they are among the world’s best in their respective positions, they can’t always give their best.

What I have been discussing specifically is the Rau’l – Higuan/Saviola thing. Rau’l is undoubtedly a legend, a player that compares to the likes of Zidane, Ronaldo and Rivaldo. Not necessarily in talent, not in performance but in terms of what he means to the team. Raul is a symbol, players look up to him when in doubt during a match. He leads us in the Champions League and most of all, against Barcelona.

However, due to the fact he has been playing football for a long time and due to other factors, he can’t play 60 matches every season. He must be rotated with other strikers so he himself regain his form and always stay fresh.

That would also help the other strikers to shine and serve the team. There is no point in benching Higuain or Saviola when either could score goals. There is no point in putting a lot of pressure on Rau’l and exhausting him to the state that he even forgets how to kick the ball properly.

Playing for Real Madrid is not easy especially when you are playing like crap. You have to accept a lot of criticism from the fans and the media. And trust me, the Spanish press is not easy, they really do hurt you personally. One wrong foot and your in the firing line.

One thing that is different in Spain than in England is that, in Spain, to some extent, fans run the club. If fans don’t like somebody, he usually gets the axe. A player, a president, director, coach, you name it, Real Madrid has done it.

Spanish media has more practical power than English press. English press though has more media coverage but in terms of, something happening from what the press do, Spain leads the lot.

I remember Arrigo Sacchi, the Italian coach, once talking about Capello’s job at Madrid saying:

“Living in Madrid is like being in hell”

He tasted it and he knows what it is like – thats very true – especially during the dark ages (2003-2006) – our coaches were living in hell. Whenever the team lost, they would be pumped with a lot of harsh criticism from the media, and oh the fans, you don’t want to hear the swearing and the other stuff around you in the stadium like when they show white hankercheifs, that usually mean “Get out”.

Thankfully, Schuster, seemingly, understands this and I think this was the reason Calderon and Mijatovic went for him because Schuster likes to play attacking football, entertaining football whenver he can. Capello, though is the greatest coach in the world, his stule doesn’t neccessarily get you of your seat.

I never had a easy night watching Real Madrid matches whenever Capello was incharge, in the 90s and two years ago. Real Madrid matches werer always filled with lots and lots of tension. I didn’t blink till the match was over because Capello rarely went for the kill and put a lot of pressure on the players to close down and get behind the ball. There were rarely any easy wins.

With Schuster, I enjoy the matches, usually take a cup of cofee and watch the match in style, relaxing on my couch.Anyway, Schuster  started implementing the rotation system a few weeks ago and that paid off yesterday. Both of Ruud and Higuan were fresh. Rau’l was benched so he should be more than ready for Espanyol’s match.

One thing I want to see happens is Saviola starting upfront. I do have faith in him and I’m sure, if he given the chance, he will take it – trust me. But I do think that Saviola should only and ONLY be used in the league matches, I don’t think he is ready for Champion League crucial games in the second half of the season.

I think Real Madrid should sign a striker in the summer which would add some juice in the attacking department because right now, if you take out Sniejder and Van Der Vaart, no one scores a wonder goal. All goals are neatly crafted and very well constructed which is essential.

But sometimes I think we do need some magic players like in the old days of Ronaldo, Figo, Zidane, Beckham and most of all Roberto Carlos. Marcelo ain’t nothing like him. He doesn’t have that rocket in his boots. Roberto Carlos was just a perfect left back.

Anyway, heard that Schuster said Real Madrid were lucky to win against Zenit. I told you so in the match report and I did think that Real Madrid just cannot play like that against a side like Juventus where players like Nedved and Del Piero would just kill you.

Drenthe also thinks that Zenit played very well and impressed him a lot (hah like anyone cares).

By the way, One other interesting fact I wanted you guys to know is that Last nights away victory was the first away victory for Real Madrid in the Champions League for over two years. Wow, that is some relief considering that Real Madrid was once considered as the Conquerors of Europe. Now Real Madrid is among the Elite but not really what you call, cut above the rest.

What do you think of what I’ve just said?

Hi everyone,

Ronaldo wont go get away that easy says Real Madrid president

I was glad yesterday that the Ronaldo saga is over but it seems it will not leave us that easy. Real Madrid are just not going to back off this easy because I think, Real Madrid president Calderon has made some commitments to some sponsors (Nike and probably Adidas, as Real Madrid wear Adidas shirts) by giving them his word that Ronaldo will be a Real Madrid player and now when Ronaldo has said that he will not leave Manchester United , Ramon Calderon wants him to pay for it (in a bad sense).

According to News Real Madrid are demanding £17million from Ronaldo after he recently announced that he would not be moving to Real Madrid this summer.

Ronaldo seemed a certainty to leave Manchester United after ignoring Sir Alex Ferguson’s messages while at EURO 2008 and reiterating his life-long desire to ply his trade at Real Madrid.

But Alex Ferguson repeatedly insisted that his prize attacker will be going nowhere, and that indeed seems to be the case after the two met for crunch talks earlier in the week.

However, the matter is not done and dusted just yet, as Real MadridMadrid are now claiming that the 23-year-old agreed terms with them and had a clause inserted in his contract that entitled Real Madridto a hefty sum of compensation.

It has been said that Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon will only fore go the fee if an agreement is struck that will see Ronaldo head to Real Madrid next summer.

I do not think that Real Madrid can get something positive from all this Transfer saga, I say sue Manchester United and sue Ronaldo. If you cannot make them join you, kill them, that’s my very own quote, copyright stuff, so no one can use that without my permission (like it does matter anyway).

In other news, Baptista transfer situation is also dragging on , they (reporters) say that Baptista is ready to join Roma as Real Madrid and Roma have come to an agreement for the Brazillian, it is in the region between 14 to 18 million euros.

And lets not neglect Robinho, as he thinks he is the best player in the world ( I would say, he is one of the best in the world), anyway, his agent has again come out and said things like “madrid do not value him” and all that crap. Real Madrid president has come out and said that there is no chance of Robinho leaving.

Robinho complains of not being valued

(Source realmadrid.com)

Robinho is asking Real Madrid to pay him the same salary that Chelsea is offering him (Chelsea is offering him €6 million and Real Madrid have offered him €4 million annually) though I think what Real Madrid is paying Robinho is what Robinho deserves.

He is not a £100,000 a week player yet. Chelsea will be disappointed when they pay such a sum to him and to Real Madrid as I think Robinho’s game is not suited to EPL, though If C.Ronaldo can adapt then so can Robinho as Robinho has more talent than C.Ronaldo, C.Ronaldo is just more hard working and determined.

Schuster sees Robinho as a part of his first team plans but that seems to be not enough for Robinho as he wants to earn what Casillas or Raul earn at Real Madrid which will not happen any time soon. Robinho’s main cause of getting upset with Real Madrid was that Real Madrid wanted to exchange Robinho plus some cash (50 million I think) for C.Ronaldo and Robinho took as an insult to his abilities.

Who can blame Robinho? Well I can. Robinho has not been performing anywhere near to what was expected of him consistently. He does not look determined enough to be the best player in the world. He has to realize that he has to put some work in , to be the best. The days of touch football is gone, now a player must be willing to handle tackles and go past players with pure speed and strength rather than just skill (which Robinho is so famous for), obviously the latter is way harder to do.

I am going to end with that and hope Robinho, Ronaldo, Baptista and not to mention Saviola’s future gets sorted out, so we can all enjoy some peace. The League going to start soon and I want Real Madrid team to be like a family, happy and content.

On a positve note, Van Der Vaart!! (we are finally talking about something else than Ronaldo and Robinho) has said that it is a dream come true playing for Real Madrid and it is even a bigger honour scoring for Real Madrid on Debut, that is it.

Enjoy some photos of the match Real Madrid won 2-1.

Van Der vaart tries to do a Ronaldinho, (Ronaldinho used to just change direction in a blink of an eye)

 Van Der Vaart, points to the crowd, his first goal for Real Madrid.

Robinho has some advice for Pepe, Pepe does not seem interested

Van Der Vaart, after scoring the goal.

(Source realmadrid.com)

Hi everyone,

Sorry for not posting yesterday as I had bouth some xbox 360 games ( Bully:Scholarship Edition and Battlefield:Bad Company) which I had to check whether they worked all right or not so I could not get the time to post yesterday.

Anyway, there are tons of news today and which I would be happy to inform you about as now Ronaldo saga has cooled down but there are some after effects which I do not like for the obvious ( and previously stated) reasons.

First I am going to start with Real Madrid club, as thats the most important and the news is that Robinho wants to leave despite knowing that Ronaldo is staying at Manchester United for at least another year. Robinho says that he has not been valued sufficiently to make him change his mind and the Chelsea money is seriously attracting him (he did’nt say that but its the only thing to be implied from his interview).

Apparently, Robinho is also upset with Real Madrid for not letting him join the Brazil olympic Squad and also for not upgrading his current deal to match what Chelsea is offering him. Real Madrid signed Van Der Vaart few days ago which to some, paved way for Robinho to leave Real Madrid, but I do not think so as I think the signing of Van Der Vaart would not affect Robinho’s situation here at Real Madrid.

Robinho’s competition is with Robben who stays injured for most of the season, so virtually Robinho has a guaranteed place in the first team but Robinho thinks otherwise and does not want to sta anymore after he was planned to be used as a make weight in Ronaldo deal.

Robinho wants to leave Real Madrid for Chelsea

I think Robinho would not be able to perform well at Chelsea, because of his weak build, I would be surprised if he survives the EPL for more than two seasons. He has taken a long time to adjust to La Liga (which is considered close to Brazlian football, but is a bit faster), so one can imagine how long Robinho would take to get settled at Chelsea as the EPL game is completely different to anything Robinho has every played before.

I think at Chelsea he would also have a lot of competition for his place with the likes of Malouda, Joe Cole and Shaun Wright Philips, not to mention Salomon Kalou too. I think it is better if he stays at Real Madrid because Robinho did look like the best player in the world on some occassions last season and I think he is starting to find his feet here at La Liga, a move away not would put Robinho a further two years back and at 24, I think it is about time Robinho comes good to his potential, once touted as the New Pele, Robinho has certainly not lived up to expectations.

Chelsea though, are still not giving up and I think Real Madrid is also not interested in holding on to Robinho with all his antics and stuff. Chelsea have made an official bid for about 19 million pounds and reports say that it’s roughly 5 million off the mark. If Chelsea can find that I think we may not see Robinho in the white jersey next season.

The agent of Robinho has also slammed Real Madrid management, so opening the door to a move to Chelsea for the Brazilian.

Wagner Ribeiro rapped to AS: “Real Madrid does not value Robinho. They only care about Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Van der Vaart and David Villa. I’ve spent three days trying to talk with Predrag Mijatovic and there is no communication, not with anyone involved in the football department “

“Robinho feels Madrid does not want him to stay. For Real Madrid, Robinho is their last priority, not like Chelsea.”

OK that does it, kick Robinho out. Yeah, as much as I love his game , he and his mouth piece Wagner have gone off the roof and are really starting to get on my nerves, Robinho is not like a Messi, for whom Real Madrid would bow down. He is a good player and has the potential of becoming as good as Messi, but nobody knows when will that day come if it does come at all. Let him leave if he is so frustrated at Real Madrid.

Van Der Vaart scores his first goal for Real Madrid in a friendly

Moving on to other news, Van Der Vaart has scored his first offical goal for Real Madrid, though it was a crappy goal, he scored it from a free kick. His free kick bounced like a thousand times before deceiving the keeper with all the defelctions it took from the players inside the box, in a friendly match against  Independiente Santa Fe on Real Madrid’s tour of Colombia. Van Der Vaart scored one and created one for Pepe in a come from behing victory for Real Madrid 2-1.

I also heard that while Ronaldo may be done with Real Madrid for this season but Ferguson for real, has not had enough yet and took another swipe at Real Madrid by saying:

“As he gets older I think he will appreciate being here more and more ” said Ferguson.

“The longer people stay at this club you tend to not want to leave. Rio Ferdinand is an obvious example of that “

“But really I’m just pleased we have managed to put all this Real Madrid stuff to bed. They know what they are dealing with now.

Ferguson happy that Ronaldo gave Manchester United the thumbs up by snubbing Real Madrid

Ferguson is such a looser, he always tries to take the edge( like by making absurd statements to get the psychological edge) by even the smallest margins and now he just wants to put Real Madrid under pressure by saying this so that Real Madrid would come again next season with even more money while Ferguson would get the chance to value his ace for one more season and if there is a significant drop in form then sell him for like 100 million pounds, good strategy Ferguson but I am sure Real Madrid ain’t that dumb.

One reason why Ronaldo stayed at Manchester United is because Ronaldo wants to show Real Madrid that he has something called loyalty and if he does ever sign for Real Madrid if would not be purely because of money and Real Madrid can expect him to stay loyal to them even if a good offers come after he joins Real Madrid (which never happens actually, Real Madrid is the biggest deal on the planet)

Though Calderon has said that “this ain’t over , tills it’s over”, meaning that Real Madrid would definitely come back for Ronaldo, I just hope Messi moves to Inter Milan so that Real Madrid can buy Messi and get a ready made Greatest Of All Time player in their squad for the next 10 years or so.

My prediction is that Real Madrid will try to sign Ronaldinho from Ac Milan next season. Yeah, I think Ronaldinho cannot perform in Serie A as the defenders there are far too physical than in La Liga , while keeping in the mind the fact that Ronaldinho’s physical strength has got down a notch.

There are so many news, I am just excited how varied there are because for the past month or so , all that I heard was either about Ronaldo or about Calderon. Now we are getting some action though nothing concrete but still, news are news.

Baptista not happy with Real Madrid

Baptista’s hope of joining Roma has also taken a hit as Roma say Real Madrid is demanding too much of a player which Real Madrid did not use last season. That does not mean , Real Madrid would sell him for crackers. I mean , he is a talent, its just that, Real Madrid has Raul and Sneijder at his position which is hard for him. Thats the only reason I can think of, why Real Madrid want to sell him.

 UPDATE:

Calderon makes it clear ” Robinho will not leave”

Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón has wasted no time in pouring cold water over reports of Robinho’s proposed move to Chelsea, a story which is heating up by the day and just few hourse ago I thought Robinho would be sold by Real madrid rather than Robinh actually leaving Real Madrid.

Calderon Said:He is definitely going to stay with us. The coach has said he wants him in our team,” Calderón said, in an interview with BBC Radio Five Live.

“We do not see any possibility of him leaving Real Madrid. We know Chelsea are interested in signing him, but he’s one of the best players in our team and we need him for the new season,” the president added.

Robinho’s agent also came out and said “He calls me everyday to find out if anyone has spoken to me about his future and I always have to tell him no one has called,” said Ribeiro.

“His ambition is to become the best player in the world but he won’t achieve that at Madrid because they treat him like a normal player,” he added.

Robinho asks Real Madrid for improved contract or else, he is going to Chelsea

Real Madrid has just begun to get over that Ronaldo saga and in a blink of an eye, Real Madrid has another one on their hands brewing out of their control.

This summer just keeps getting more bore by the day. First the Ronaldo saga held us all up for like a month and now this, I hope it doesn’t last as long as Ronaldo’s did because I want some good news to hear. What happened to news like, Real Madrd in shock move for Barcelona’s Messi or Real Madrid chasing Gerrard and stuff. Why are there so many news relating to a single topic like Ronaldo’s and now Robinho’s.

I am counting the days till the La Liga starts and the transfer window ends.

Pepe asks Ronaldo to show some respect

Even Pepe(who is C.Ronaldo’s teammate on the international circuit, both play for Portugal)  has had it with Ronaldo over his stupid behavior regarding signing for Real Madrid and has asked Ronaldo to show some respect to Real Madrid .

Pepe admits Real Madrid’s players are getting fed-up with the constant transfer speculation over Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The defender explained: “We need to recognise that Madrid has its squad and that the players here have their quality.

“There is a little disrespect going on because a team does not rely on one player, even if he is very good. Pele and Maradona won major games, but they had help from their peers.”

Now, moving to Bernd Schuster (the coach of Real Madrid). Schuster, wants Ronaldo (that we all know) but what some don’t know that he also wants Van Der Vaart if Real Madrid fail in their bid to sign C.Ronaldo.

According to AS (which is like Real Madrid’s mouthpiece or no wait, that was Marca) says Schuster has held a series of meetings with Real president Ramon Calderon and sports director Pedja Mijatovic during their Austria preseason camp.

Schuster wants some new attacking players no matter what

Schuster has made it clear that if they were to land Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo he would be delighted because the Portuguese “is the best in the world right now,” but added that if they could not sign the player, then “I would be pleased with the arrival of Van der Vaart” .

So typical of Schuster, always wants more options and more options, that is not a bad thing but he has to think about his signings too and not just buy for the sake of buying, I heard somewhere else that Schuster is becoming increasingly worried day by day because of the lack of activity of Real Madrid in the transfer market this summer.

Schuster has probably seen what good work Barcelona (Real Madrid’s arch enem…I mean archrival) has done so far in the market and does not want Real Madrid to sit back and wait for Ronaldo, till he says no and Real Madrid end up with nothing, but I would tell Schuster that where that is a good thing to a have a PLAN B, but it should be sensible and buying a 26 year old player for 10 million pounds (as Hamburg have asked) who would be available for nothing just six months from now is not sensible.

Diego, the brilliant Brazillian

I would rather go with Diego, a much younger and promising talent. Though Real Madrid already have enough cover for that position (the attacking midfield, more like the playmaker position) I think if Real Madrid want so sign someone than Diego should be at the top of the list this season behind Quaresma.

Ramon Calderon is being questioned now

OK, guys looks like Real Madrid is not an Immortal Bank as I thought it was as there have been reports that Real Madrid would need to borrow some loan to finance C.Ronaldo’s transfer while the club’s debt continue to increase to an extent that it could increase about 100 million euro per season which is like a lot of money.

Los Merengues’ high profile chase of the Crisitano Ronaldo  is papering over the cracks of an ever-worsening bank balance under Ramón Calderón’s regime, according to El Mundo Deportivo.

Now I know, to some it may sound strange as during Perez’s time Real Madrid seemed to have spent a lot more than these past two seasons under Ramon Calderon but the fact is that while Perez signed some big money players, he only signed one whereas Ramon Calderon though has not bought a player worth more than 30 million euro ( I think), has signed like 13 players since his appointment as the President in the last two season which means 7 players per year which is ridiculous.

Florentino Pérez managed to put the club back on even keel after the financial situation by selling some less frequently used training ground facilities to the government I think, before that it was reputedly become very serious under Lorenzo Sanz, but the current board are undoing that work.

I heard that Real Madrid’s hierarchy is becoming increasingly concerned over the financial situation at the club as there is only 25 million euros left in the White House’s account.

A loan that would allow Madrid to pay €70m for Ronaldo has been granted by Banco Santander and that would see the reigning league champions owe even more which also means that Real Madrid would have to pay more and more interest just like Manchester United (which is in a far worst condition than this).

This is what I read on some site of which I can’t remember the name.

Calderón has returned to using the system that Sanz introduced of spreading the club’s debts out in order to disguise the true extent of what is owed, the paper continues.

If Madrid sign Ronaldo for €70m then that fee will be spread over the length of his contract and will not register as a full payment on the balance sheet, but in reality that is what will be owed.

Directors and senior club members are considering advising Calderón to stop his chase of Ronaldo and focus on adding more realistic targets to the squad, but after pledging to buy the player he may not be prevented.

If not, then there could be a backlash behind the scenes, while there are reports that the wages of the Portuguese forward could well upset certain senior members of Bernd Schuster’s team.

Now that sounds like some serious trouble there for Real Madrid. I think if Real Madrid cannot afford Ronaldo then to hell with Ronaldo, I am happy with the current squad and would not mind if Real Madrid put out the same squad that Real Madrid had last season, which is not a big deal anyway because no other club change their squad so radically as Real Madrid does.

Calderon says Real Madrid is in excellent financial situation and will sign C.Ronaldo

I do not want to call Real Madrid the Galacticos but the reason I do this now is because of the interest of Real Madrid in Ronaldo which will more or less through Real Madrid back to the start of this policy some six years ago. Even then it was thought as nothing more than just a quality player signing but in the end it turned into a turmoil which I do not want Real Madrid to go through again.

Calderon has broken his silence over the last few days about Ronaldo saga and now says that this saga is going to turn into reality by saying that the Ronaldo deal is going well and Real Madrid should have Ronaldo in about 2 weeks time.

The last Real Madrid board meeting before summer holidays took place yesterday afternoon at the club’s stadium.

From what I have heard is that Calderón’s board of directors were anxiously eager to hear what the chairman had to say on the summer transfers, specially on the interest in Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafael van der Vaart.

And believe it or not, Calderón started the meeting by saying that Real Madrid will have an impressive budget of €400 million(man that is alot of money) for the next season, which was applauded by the entire boardroom. But wait a minute, is that budget the budget for the whole club or just the budget for the transfers. If this budget is for transfers then I think Real Madrid plan to buy 25 players next season and sell 25 current players in the squad. I think it’s the clubs overall budget because that is some scary money.

He went on to comment on the status of Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer, ensuring that he is tranquil over the success of the deal.

“Relax, he won’t say no now. We won’t miss on him. You can be sure of that. In ten or fifteen days we will arrive,” Calderón said.

That is good news in a way that atleast now we know where the deal is going because just few days ago it looked like the deal has crashed because Real Madrid cannot afford Ronaldo, stuff like that, you know. Now that Calderon as confirmed this (I am taking this news as a TRUE), I wonder what is going to happen with Robinho, is he going to stay at the club or leave as he said that he would leave if C.Ronaldo comes which I think would be a big loss.

I want to see Robinho and Ronaldo play together, wouldn’t that be a site. I think Real Madrid should get rid of that injury prone Robben, though he also has loads of ability and probably is the best winger in the world (C.Ronaldo is not a winger, he is an all around attacking player) but I think Real Madrid should just sell him, it is too risky to rely on him for a whole season.

Not even Ronaldo’s ankle injury appears to have cooled Real Madrid’s interest in the Portugal international, with reports suggesting the Spanish champions to be readying an offer worth €85 million which is exactly what Calderon stated earlier that the deal would be done at round about 80 million euros and no 100 million will be offered.

Another good news that came out of the meeting was that Calderón further added that Van der Vaart is on the brink of completing a move to Real Madrid, having revealed that the Holland international will arrive for a fee in the region of €6 million. I think Real Madrid would get the best into that deal, Van Der Vaart for 6 MILLION, hahah, who would have thought Real Madrid would pull it off like that.

He also informed that Julio Baptista (probably to Roma) and Roberto Soldado (probably to Getafe or Benfica) are on their way out of Santiago Bernabéu and that their sales which I think would be around 30 million euros ,will help Real Madrid finance its bid for Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United (I know I did not need to mention that but still)

News

Schuster wants Ronaldo

Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has told fans he’d welcome the signing of Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.

As he prepared to join his players for their preseason camp, Schuster responded to questions from fans about Real’s bid for Ronaldo.

“I know the same thing as you,” replied Schuster. “I can only hope that we get him. What’s clear is that we’ll be much better with him.”
My Thoughts

Ronaldo, a wanted man

Yeah, ofcourse who would not welcome the signing of such a player, I think he is one of the best and I ll say it again, that he is not THE BEST. Certainly not worth a 100 million euro. I think this is sort of a last attempt by Real Madrid to let Ronaldo know that not only Ramon Calderon but Schuster also wants him which intrinsically means that Ronaldo is wanted at Real Madrid for both economic and sporting reasons.

I think Real Madrid should sign him, as he would bolster Real Madrid’s wing options and would bring a lot of money. Real Madrid’s name would be on the Champions Leauge magazine front page. The whole world now wants a piece of Ronaldo, if Real Madrid sign him, sponsors would come flooding in to Real Madrid.

The thing that worries me is that if Ronaldo is signed and Robinho is not sold, then Robben would be completely wasted and I am asking this, If Real Madrid had already planned to go for Ronaldo then why did Real Madrid go for Robben in the first place and paid such a huge amount for a talent like Robben.

Not that Robben is going to a play a full season anyway, but still, last season there were very few games in which Robinho and Robben played together so what I am asking is that, is Schuster that stupid that he bought a 30 million euro odd player just for the bench. Not a very sensible thing to do or is it.

Hope Real Madrid get Ronaldo while his image lasts, otherwise, from a sporting point of view I would say, waste your money somewhere else.

News

Robinho’s time at Real Madrid could still be shortened

The name of the Brazil front man has been mentioned as a potential makeweight in any deal involving Ronaldo, but the 24-year-old is not thought to be keen on a move to Old Trafford.

Luiz Felipe Scolari is rumoured to be interested in signing the playmaker for his new Chelsea side, but Madrid will only do business if Ronaldo joins from United.

Robinho and his agent Wagner Ribeiro met with Real Madrid’s sporting director Predrad Mijatovic on Monday, where details of their discussion were kept secret.

However, Ribeiro spoke to Setanta after the meeting, and made Chelsea’s intentions known.

He said: “Robinho is a Real Madrid player above anything else, but it is also true that Chelsea have a long-standing interest.”

Robinho is part of Brazil’s Olympic team, and has since returned to his homeland in preparation for the August 9 kick-off.

News

Ferguson, does not want to talk to Ronaldo

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has decided against travelling to Lisbon tomorrow for showdown talks with Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Mail on Sunday says Sir Alex was due to fly to Lisbon for what would have been the first meeting between the pair since the furore about 23-year-old Ronaldo’s links with Real Madrid blew up in the European Championship finals.

Tomorrow’s get-together had been regarded as vital to clear the air and bring the Madrid saga to an end. Instead, Ferguson will stay in Manchester to push ahead with his attempt to sign Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov and supervise the squad departing on Wednesday for a three-match tour of South Africa.

A source close to the club said: “The manager was hoping to sort things out with Ronaldo but that will now have to wait until the team get back “

Ronaldo’s attitude has hardened United’s resolve to make him honour at least part of the three years left on his contract.

“Nobody twisted his arm to sign the contract. He was happy to do that and can’t just change his mind on a whim,” added the source.

My Thoughts

Ronaldo and Ferguson to part ways soon

 Now Alex Ferguson has also joined this little play called “The Ronaldo Saga”or”The Ronaldo Chronicles, I think we’ll stay with the former. So now Ferguson is playing mind games with Ronaldo as well, making Cristiano Ronaldo a bit nervous about this whole thing.

Up till now Ronaldo thought that he had Ferguson right where he wanted him as he refused to meet Ferguson or even attend his phone call. Now, I think, Ferguson has done this deliberately to make Ronaldo think about his future at Manchester United. Perhaps giving an indication that he is not the boss anymore. May be Ferguson wants to apprise Ronaldo of his ever decreasing popularity among the united fans.

I think its safe it to say, Ronaldo’s deterioting popularity among the English fans has not gone unnoticed as nobody is  amazed over Ronaldo’s behavior over the last two months after the season end for Manchester United. Or even more so after his “Blatter support” comments.

Ferguson wants to settle this with Ronaldo now I think, Ferguson wants to put an end to this. Inside, I think Ferguson knows that Ronaldo wants to play for Real Madrid to get his name in the history books,  ever since tha World Cup 2006 happened with Ronaldo, I think Ferguson always had this fear that Ronaldo might be waiting for that perfect moment to leave Manchester United.

Perfect moment for Ronaldo would be like, the perfect moment where he can become the most expensive player of all time and his departure from Old Trafford might also disturb and disrupt the balance of Alex Ferguson’s squad. Now Ferguson knows that his main man does not want to play for Manchester United anymore.

I think we all know, it will not be the same if Ronaldo does decide to stay at Old Trafford. Fans would not admire him like the way they did last season, when Ferguson and co, defended every little cheap trick C.Ronaldo played of opponents defenders in trying to get them a send off card.

I think Ronaldo is going to regret what he has done so far after the end of the last season for the rest of his life. I hope Real Madrid sign him, use him then dispose him. I do not think he is a club player, he will go wherever, money will lead him, mind you, nobody is going to pay Ronaldo what Real Madrid would pay so if he leaves Real Madrid, assuming he joins Real Madrid this season, atleast he wont leave Real Madrid for money. May be for fame, in a sense that he would want to win trophies in every league or every major club, who knows that might be on of C.Ronaldo’s career aims.

 Whatever happens, now Alex Ferguson is taking none of this Ronaldo crap. I think it’s about time, Ferguson sets things straight and end this saga either by throwing Ronaldo out or making him stay by means of a improved contract.