Where does the future lie for the World's greatest player?, Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo had a brilliant club season. A season that other players could only dream of. He scored over 40 goals, won the English Premiereship title for the second time in a row and won the most elusive of trophies, the Champions League Cup. He did this while perfecting the art of attacking football and collecting numerous individual awards on the way. He has now earned the accolades from his peers and rival fans alike across the world. Later on in the year everyone expects him to win FIFA Player of the year. His only disappointment this season came from his international duties in Euro 08. Portugal after having a magnificent start fell short to the powerhouse known as Germany and left Ronaldo ample time to contemplate on his club future. Real Madrid acknowledging the fact that Ronaldo expressed interest in joining them someday decided to focus their energies on persuading Ronaldo to set his goals on becoming their marquee player for seasons to come. This did not go well with Ronaldo's current club Manchester United. The club has realized how important the young man is to their continued success and refuse to let go of the midfielder who has contributed to over 40% of Manchester's magnificent goal tally in the past season. A bitter war has now begun over the two clubs due to Madrids audacious attempts to lure the Portuguese. Ronaldo has also fueled his club's temper by refusing to to put an end to rumours of his desire to apply his trade in the La Liga, by teasing the press with ambigous remarks and putting off his final decision until further notice.

In my opinion I believe Ronaldo will be requesting to leave England this year. I do not believe he will leave because of financial greed. Instead I believe he wants to face a new challenge. Ronaldo has won all major trophies in England including the Champions League and it would seem that he would find it hard to regain the passion and form to top the past season. Ronaldo is a player that is obssessed with goals and challenges. He constantly works hard to improve his mental and physical aspects of the game. I watched his performance in the Euro 04 recently and could see major differences between the teenager that played in that match and the man he has become today. Gone was the slim built midfielder with a knack to do countless step overs and hit long range shots. He now turned into a powerful hybrid player, not a midfielder not a striker but a player that ghosts around the attacking front looking for the ball. He now added a number of other impressive options to his arsenal. He no longer relied on shooting from outside the box, but also improved on his aerial capabilites and inside box shooting. He also implement his pace and step over techinque only when he knew the percentage of beating his defender was high and not just for showboating to the pleasure of the crowd. He also spent hours on the training field practicing and perfecting the art of free kicks. All this shows evidence that this is a player that has to be motivated to perform at the highest levels. I am more than confident that at this moment Ronaldo is preparing himself for Euro 12 so that he may get over from dropping out so early in the competition. When he walked away from the pitch alone, it showed that he felt disappointed in himself for failing the task. This is why I believe Man U should swallow their pride and let Ronaldo go if he wishes.

I believe that Manchester United can force Ronaldo to stay with the club. This I believe would eventually lead Ronaldo to start losing interesting in the developments on the pitch, and he could start performing below par. We saw when Ronaldinho won the CL and he realized that he has won everything his form decreased dramatically. I fear this could happen to him. What Real Madrid represents to Ronaldo is a new challenge. He will have to establish himself into a new team and new system. He will then have to use his abilities to help his team win maintain the La Liga title and win the Champion's League. This will provide him with a goal to continue to maintain his brilliant form. I would not be surprised if Ronaldo manages to achieve these goals at Real Madrid, they too will have the pain of seeing him move on to one of the Serie A giants. Another interesting note is that Ronaldo's mother is a diehard Real Madrid fan and has stated her desire to see her son play for the club. Despite the fact that she has been quoted as saying that she believes he should stay with Manchester United, this may highly influence his decision. Ronaldo has already expereinced the passing of his Father and knows the reality that mortality is temporary. It seems to me that Ronaldo realizes anything can happen in football and he may not gain this opportunity again. We now have to wait to hear his announcement in the next 48 hrs.