adminMADRID. — At a time when Manchester United can’t get away from ridicule, there’s a familiar face who just wants to show them some love.
Maybe the man with the backwards cap and cut-off denim shorts is being polite as he mentions a possibility that currently seems inconceivable.“I love Manchester,” he says.
“Everyone knows that – I have said it many times. Manchester is in my heart. I left many good friends there, the supporters are amazing and I wish I can come back one day.”
It is Cristiano Ronaldo and he’s warming to one of his favourite subjects.
“I am happy here in Real Madrid and have four more years, but in the future you never know because they treated me unbelievably there.”
The cameras and microphones go off.
“I really did love being at Manchester United,” he says.
“Believe me, they will be a good team again, I’m sure of it. It is a great club.”
It’s the club Sir Alex Ferguson – the only manager Ronaldo “would call a friend” – once said would not spend fortunes on established talent; a club that once nurtured Ronaldo and has since spent £150 million in a single summer spree on the proven capabilities of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao, among others.
“This can happen,” he says. “Bad moments and good moments. Manchester is passing through a bad moment. Last year it was a horrible season and this year they haven’t started well, either. But I do think they did well to buy Di Maria and Falcao. I think the team will be much better. I want to see them better because it is such a fantastic club and they deserve to be better. Falcao is a very good signing. He is a very good player.”
And yet conventional logic suggests United need to add more cement to the mix, with a defence and structure less convincing than at any time in recent memory.
“I don’t think Falcao is the wrong type of player for them. He is a top player, so I don’t think it is a wrong buy. He will be a fantastic buy. Manchester have not started well, two points in three games, so they need quality players and Falcao is a quality player. And Di Maria, too.”
Di Maria is also something of a sore point, as was the loss of Xabi Alonso to Bayern Munich.
“I have strong opinions, but I can’t always say what I think,” he later told Spanish reporters. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t have done so. But if the president thinks the best thing for the team is to sign players and let others leave, we must respect and support the decision.
“With new players, the style will change and it may change for better or worse.”
For Ronaldo, at 29-years-old and having scored a scarcely believable 255 goals in 250 Real Madrid games, “better” is the only option.
Having just enjoyed arguably his finest season, in which he was awarded the Ballon D’Or and won the Champions League for a second time, last month he was named Europe’s best player.
When he’s asked to sum it up, his smirk says almost as much as his words.
“When you are nominated for the best player in Europe, the Ballon d’Or, playing in the Champions League, there is so much pressure,” he says.
“You don’t know what will happen. This pressure is inside you – you always have it. But really, the last year was just fantastic. Now the best player in Europe as well, that was fantastic for me. I had an opportunity to say thank you to my team-mates because without them individual awards are not possible.” — Mailonline
Online Reporter