The only man to replace Ronaldo is Messi

29 June 08 by Bill

Could Lionel Messi fill Ronaldo's boots? Former academy boss Eric Harrison has suggested there is only one man who could replace Cristiano Ronaldo should he leave; Lionel Messi.

Eric Harrison was at United when �The Golden Generation� were coming through and had a key role to play in the development of the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and the Neville brothers.

Things were a little different back then Harrison recalled, losing a big player wasn�t really a problem when you had quality waiting in the wings.

�Bryan Robson, Ince, Kanchelskis, and Hughes were all great players,� he said, �But Ronaldo will be harder to replace because there is no one in the juniors to do it.�

With no youth players ready to stake a claim to Ronaldo�s position, Harrison can only think of one player who could.

�Ronaldo is probably the best player in the world right at the moment. If you were twisting my arm, I�d say the only guy who can replace him is Messi and there are no guarantees that Barcelona will be willing to sell him. That means it might be a more difficult situation.�

Of course, in a perfect world we would have them both but I don�t see that happening. Would bringing Messi in make losing Ronaldo easier to cope with? Or say Ronaldo wanted to stay, given his recent shenanigans, would you want to swap him anyway?