Man Utd Thread:

[An Fear Rua]

My treble for the season is now complete, marriage isnt as bad as its made out to be!!

[RedandGreenSniper]

I agree regarding Casillas. A goalkeeper and a striker are our priorities for next season. Neither Brown nor G Neville are world class full-backs but they are more than adequate. A right back ain't a priority signing imo.
Benzema would be a serious signing. Possibly David Villa could be in the mix too . . .
Certainly don't think there's any point keeping Ronaldo if he is posturing like this. If Zidane went for 50million pounds five or six years ago then you'd have to think Ronaldo, at just 23, could fetch over 80 million pounds

[Norf Tyrone]

My treble for the season is now complete, marriage isnt as bad as its made out to be!!

Want until August and you're looking to watching football again (Proper football, not this international rubbish)!

[corn02]

is it true Ronaldo said "I just love playing in white" after the Czech game?

[screenexile]

From independent.ie

Madrid raise the stakes with record-breaking salary offer to Ronaldo

By Jeremy Wilson

Friday June 13 2008

REAL MADRID have offered Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo an astonishing, record-breaking salary of £9.5m a year after tax.

That amounts to £182,000 a week, which is an increase of 40pc on the deal John Terry agreed last year with Chelsea that was the highest in Premier League history.

With United understood to be anxious over Chelsea's appointment of Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, news of the extraordinary offer, made four weeks ago, will only add weight to the overwhelming sense that Ronaldo is set to leave for Spain.

United have reported Madrid to Fifa over their attempts to lure Ronaldo, and it is believed that the Champions League winners are prepared to offer a new, improved deal of around £150,000 a week.

However, it would be difficult for any club to justify matching Madrid's unprecedented offer.

Best

Yesterday Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech urged Ronaldo not to leave Old Trafford.

"I think he will stay with United because, for me, the Premier League is the best in the world and it is difficult to leave it now,'' said Cech.

With Ronaldo's situation so delicately poised, United sources yesterday attempted to play down any concerns over the potential impact of Scolari, who will be working closely with the Portuguese winger for as long as the team stay in the Euro 2008 finals.

Scolari has developed a good relationship with Ronaldo while managing Portugal and would be in a position to offer advice over his next move.

Scolari, whose appointment on a four-year deal worth £5.5m-a-year deal with Chelsea was announced late on Wednesday night, is understood not to have signed a contract with his new club. But Chelsea are believed to be "100pc confident'' they have their man.

[Over the Bar]

If Zidane went for 50million pounds five or six years ago then you'd have to think Ronaldo, at just 23, could fetch over 80 million pounds

Aye but those were the days when muppet managers like David O'Leary & Houllier were payin £10M for anyone who could kick a ball.   The arse fell out of the over inflated transfer market a year or 2 after that with the goings on in Italy and with Sky.   

[the Deel Rover]

lads do you not think van den Saar is up to it next year he is having a brilliant European championships. What age is he?

[Goats Do Shave]

lads do you not think van den Saar is up to it next year he is having a brilliant European championships. What age is he?

He'll be 38 later this year. Fergie has given him another year...

[buglebhoy]

Ben Foster's well fit to replace him in the league but unsure about europe and i think kuscach is brutal altogether!!

[Goats Do Shave]

i think kuscach is brutal altogether!!

Good shot stopper... would worry about him on crosses & concentration!

[RedandGreenSniper]

Van Der Sar may have one more year in him.
I thought Foster was the man for the job but if Fergie doesn't think he's better than Kusackz (sp) then it doesn't auger well at all
But if VDS has been given an extra year I'd say Fergie must be content with the status quo until this time next year

[Goats Do Shave]

A wee cheeky bid for Boruc would be nice. He reminds me of big Pete!

[RedandGreenSniper]

A wee cheeky bid for Boruc would be nice. He reminds me of big Pete!

I'd definitely have some of that. Bit of showboating can be no harm to brighten things up!
Can't see Strachan allowing it come close to happening

[Minder]

Times Online 17/6/08


Cristiano Ronaldo to submit transfer request

Oliver Kay
Cristiano Ronaldo has confided to friends that he is prepared to do "whatever it takes" to engineer a transfer to Real Madrid this summer. Manchester United maintain that they will not sell their most prized asset under any circumstances, but Ronaldo is dismissive of his club's views and regards his planned world-record transfer to Real as an inevitability.

Ronaldo appeared almost ambivalent about his future when, in a statement on June 4, he suggested that he would be happy to stay at United if no fee was agreed with Real, but the depth of his determination to leave Old Trafford is now becoming clear.

A source close to the player said last night that he had made clear he would do everything in his power to persuade United to sell. That could mean anything from submitting a formal transfer request to refusing to report for pre-season training, but his next step will be to issue a further statement, outlining his intentions, as soon as Portugal's participation in the European Championship finals is over.

The end of the tournament a week on Sunday - or Portugal's elimination, if that happens first - will trigger an escalation in the battle for Ronaldo, with Real planning to make a formal offer of about £60million.


United maintain that they will not even consider negotiating with Real this summer, but Ronaldo appears unwilling to contemplate another season at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson has been convinced that Ronaldo is merely flirting with Real in the hope of securing a lucrative new contract, but, even if United offered the forward a significant advance on the £120,000-a-week deal that he signed only 16 months ago - something that they maintain they will not do - he would, in his present state of mind, reject it. He has been seduced not only by the riches on offer in Madrid, but also by the idea of playing for Real, whom he considers a bigger club than United, and by the lifestyle he would enjoy in Spain, having never been effusive about life in Manchester.
Ronaldo will go on a three-week holiday immediately after Euro 2008 in the hope that a deal can be agreed while he is away, but, with United insistent that they will not sell, the likelihood remains that he will be required in Manchester for pre-season training in late July.

The news yesterday that Fifa, the world governing body, will take no action against Real came as a further blow. United complained to Fifa last week over a series of public statements apparently expressing interest in Ronaldo. "No breach of contract appears to have occurred yet," Fifa said in a statement.

Regardless of Ronaldo's plans, Ferguson plans to strengthen the squad. A bid for Dimitar Berbatov, the Tottenham Hotspur forward, has been mooted, with Louis Saha likely to be sold or sent out on loan.

[Goats Do Shave]

How is the size of a club measured?

I would suggest it is size of support.

Minder... This new guy Liverpool have bought must be good, when they let him go to replace him with Riise!!!! 

James Milner next?? - The mediocre bit part players just keep coming! - I reckon this will be their year though... right?