For those United fans who have picked up a paper this morning and thought it was April 1, don’t worry, we haven’t gone back in time of two and a half months, even though the miserable weather and today’s back pages are doing their best to convince us all of the opposite.
Tabloids and broadsheets are unanimous in choosing Cristiano Ronaldo as their main transfer story and, at least in theory, there are plenty of reasons to whet our appetite ahead of next season, considering that either Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale are going to wear a red shirt next season.
Well, that’s if you believe the Sun, that is. On the tabloid’s pages, Neil Custis claims that the Glazers have given David Moyes the green light to fork out a substantial amount of money to land Cristiano Ronaldo, who yesterday took to Twitter to vehemently deny he had signed a contract extension with Real Madrid.
Even more astonishingly, continues the Sun, should Ronaldo decide to extend his current deal with the Spanish giants, Moyes would then spend £85m (yes, that’s eighty-five million pounds) on Gareth Bale, a sum that should make even Daniel Levy happy.
Bale’s also been courted by PSG and Real Madrid and Custis believes that, should the Welshman move to the Bernabeu, Ronaldo would be allowed to leave, but could, potentially, cost United more than the £80m they received for him in 2009 – quite frankly, an absurd amount of money even for a player of his calibre.
The Sun’s “world exclusive” (their seventh in a row on this particular topic) is followed by another “exclusive”, this time on the pages of the Daily Star, where Duncan Wright further elaborates on the real meaning of the Portuguese’s star tweet and believes that Ronaldo will be allowed to go for a mere £60m, while Chevrolet and Nike will finance the £250,000 a week deal.
Not to be outdone, the Daily Mail reports the same story, slapping a £80m price-tag on the Real Madrid forward and claiming that, despite “Monaco were believed to be preparing an £85million bid with astronomical wages to convince him to join their project, Ronaldo may choose to return to Manchester, where he has fond memories.”
The Mirror has an interesting take on the topic, claiming that Ronaldo is thought to to be willing to run down the remaining two years on his current contract, before leaving the Bernabeu for free and command a £60m signing-on fee in the summer of 2015.
Real Madrid are set to double Ronaldo’s £185,000-a-week wages but David Moyes, claims the Mirror, will try to persuade the Portuguese to return to Old Trafford this summer – a transfer on which the odds have considerably shortened since Ronaldo took to Twitter yesterday.
In other, non Ronaldo-related, transfer news, the Mirror and the Mail claim Everton are set to make Leighton Baines their highest earner to deter United’s interest in the left back. The England international is set to be offered a £65,000-a-week deal, while his former manager David Moyes hasn’t given up on Cesc Fabregas, according to the Daily Star.
The tabloids also adds that pretty much every midfielder in Europe, from Strootman to Thiago and Fellaini is on the United manager’s radar.
Dan
