How much would City pay for Ronaldo?

19 January 09 by Bill

Sir Alex Ferguson is adamant in his stance that Cristiano Ronaldo will not be leaving the club ‘this summer’ and is equally adamant the Glazers are of the same opinion.

But in an age where money talks and United are somewhere in the region of £700 million in debt can we really be confident in what we’re hearing?

The emergence of City as a financial super power has once again thrown the transfer market into chaos and their £100 million+ bid for Kaka must be taken as a serious threat to any other club housing world class players. Kaka was not the only player on City’s shopping list and if their transfer kitty really is bottomless, is a bid for Ronaldo really that far away?

What is Ferguson Saying?

“Kaka is one of the top three players in the world and if he’s worth £100million, so are Lionel Messi and Ronaldo. You could argue Ronaldo is worth £120million because he is the World and European Player of the Year.

“But there is no chance the owners would want to sell him even if City came calling with £120million this summer. I am absolutely sure of it. They want him here even more than me. They are strong about that.”

So Ferguson is saying all the right things and I hope his faith in the Glazers doesn’t prove to be unfounded. But how about that £120 million offer? When Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim took over the reigns at City, he was quoted as saying €240 was an acceptable value for a player such as Ronaldo.

In September last year, €240 was the equivalent to about £136 million. The pound has taken a bit of a battering since then and in today’s economy is more like £217 million. That’s almost a third of United’s entire debt and possibly too big of a carrot to hang in front of the Glazers.

I said previously that I didn’t think Ronaldo would ever play for Manchester City and I still believe that. Doubts and “what if scenarios” are being to creep in but if Ferguson is right and Glazer is adamant on keeping him there is nothing to worry about.

But if he’s wrong and the club accept a bid could we really see Ronaldo playing at City next season? I still cant see it but if a bid is accepted, he’ll probably end up at Real and for a lot less than £200 million.