Contracts Speak Louder Than Words

26 May 09 by Bill

Cristiano Ronaldo is making all the right sounds so far with regard to a transfer away from Manchester United this summer. His dream move to Real Madrid is “dead” in his words and whilst “nobody knows what will happen in the future”, next season it seems Ronaldo is set to stay put.

On the surface this seems like great news for the club but if you dig a little deeper you’ll see that although it’s reassuring to hear Ronaldo wants to stay; right now, his words are worthless.

Cristiano Ronaldo has served two years of his current five year contract. The winger has just one year left in his “protected period” meaning come next summer, he will be able to buy himself out of the remainder of his contract. He will of course have to pay the club compensation but compared to the transfer fee Ronaldo would command the word pittance springs to mind.

Under FIFA rules, a player may break a contract after a given number of years; currently three years for players under 28 at the point of signing and two years for those over.

Andy Webster was the first player to buy himself out of his contract when he moved from Hearts to Wigan in May 2007. Hearts had been trying to sell the player for £5 million but ended up with compensation of just £625,000.

David Gill will be well aware of this fact and a contract for his superstar player will be priority number one this summer. If Ronaldo really wants to stay at United, then this summer is crunch time. The Winger simply HAS to sign a contract extension or the club run the serious risk of losing the player for a paltry sum in the near future. If the club can’t tie him down, perhaps they’ll have no option but to let him go?

To force a move in such a way would be a show of utter disrespect from Ronaldo towards the club and teammates that have nurtured his talent and supported him through thick and thin. I’d like to think he’d never do something like that to our great club but when you’re talking about a £50+ million asset, surely you can’t take any chances?