It’s that tantalising time of the year again, where the tongues of all football fans are set wagging because of the plethora of transfer news floating on the internet, independent of the fact whether they are credible or not. And the transfer window is incomplete without the oh-so-predictable Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United transfer rumour, the centrepiece of the summer transfer window.
This story always finds its way to the back pages of almost all leading newspapers across Europe and on all the major websites. Yet, it never fails to disappoint. This window is not any disparate.
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When the news about the Portuguese International wanting to leave the Spanish Capital broke the internet, all the Manchester United fans collectively sighed, “Oh, not this again”. But they would be lying if they weren’t hoping against hope that “Maybe he will return this time”, after all, he is their prodigal son, forget Jose, he is the special one.
Crux of the matter
Around a fortnight ago, the 4-time Ballon d'Or winner was accused of defrauding the Spanish tax authorities out of €14.7 million and a subsequent lawsuit was filed against him. In a statement, the prosecutor’s office said that Ronaldo had knowingly used a “business structure” created in 2010 to hide his income in Spain from image rights.
He had been accused of four counts of tax fraud between 2011 and 2014. This was like a dagger to the heart for Cristiano, who has always sought to maintain a “clean guy” image. He felt as if he was victimised by the Spanish authorities and the media. He felt that the club haven’t supported him enough through this tax row.
He was also irate because of the Madrid boo-boys not supporting him enough and turning their back on him repeatedly. He did not feel duly appreciated for his astounding achievements. A Bola, a Portuguese newspaper came up with the report that he had made an ‘irreversible’ decision to leave Real Madrid and all the major tabloids backed this claim.
Even an apparent emergency call from his manager Zidane couldn’t pacify him, he said that the media made him feel like a criminal and his decision is final. United fans started getting their hopes up, reports of ridiculous deals for Ronaldo started showing up.
One particular report even stated that he had ordered his super-agent Mendes to seal a return to the club where it all started, United fans(including me) started cautiously dreaming again. But even before they could achieve REM, their hopes were dashed when Ronaldo performed the...
Apparent U-turn
“Oh, this was coming”, thought all the United fans, but to be honest this mini-saga has left a bitter taste in their mouths, because there was hope, however minute. And after all, it is Cristiano Ronaldo, and nothing would be more romantic than him coming back to the Theatre of Dreams.
But Alas, Cristiano is said to have been swayed by the public support displayed by the re-elected Madrid president Florentino Perez.
Speaking to a radio station, Perez said: "This is all very strange. I will defend him as a player and as a human being. I know Cristiano and he is a good guy, both as a professional and a person. What people cannot do is talk about him like he is a delinquent, that bothers me and is hurtful.
"I do not know his tax situation very well. I can only say that we all have to fulfill our obligations when it comes to taxes. But I have no doubts about Cristiano. What I have been told is that he is using the same corporate structure that he used in the UK and there were no problems there. "Cristiano is not angry about who pays the fine. He has always wanted to comply with the rules.”
Ronaldo is now said to be reconsidering his ‘irreversible’ decision after the supposed passionate defence by Perez and the predictable ending of this mini-saga is in the offing: He will stay.
Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo
The great Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result, let me bend it conveniently and replace ‘doing’ by ‘expecting’ and that applies to United fans; knowing that Real Madrid is his dream club, knowing that there he has a chance to win the UCL and Ballon d’Or every year, blow every record to smithereens, we still hope.
Because there is just something romantic about CR7 and United fans’ relationship. He has always spoken highly about his time at United and how he misses the club and the United supporters who are obsessed with him.
So when a story like this comes up, a United fanatic can’t help but get his hopes up.
It can be said that Cristiano was the heart of the marvellous United squad of the 2000s which conquered everyone and everything that stood in front of them and maybe signing him back represented a way to go back to those glory days about which supporters can only reminisce, especially considering how bereft of quality and major trophies United have been after a certain legendary Scotsman left.
But the cold and hard truth is that Manchester United will always be the ultimate bridesmaids as far as Cristiano Ronaldo is concerned. Every summer, Ronaldo throws his toys out of his pram and knowingly or unknowingly uses United as a leverage to get a brand new toy(deal) and everything is back to happy-go-lucky for him again: Living the dream in the club he wanted to join since he was a boy.
To be fair to him he has never come out and specifically stated that he wants to return to United or anything of the sort but he must know that eventually, United and their fans will welcome him with open arms and Madrid must also be aware of the fact. So whenever he throws his yearly tantrum, he knows that there are going to be obvious repercussions.
At the end of the summer, it is always Madrid and Ronaldo walking up the aisle and United standing in the side settling for someone inferior. To describe this situation using modern lingo, it can be said Ronaldo has ‘friendzoned’ Manchester United.
In popular culture, the friend-zone is a situation in which one member of a friendship wishes to enter into a romantic relationship, while the other does not. It is generally considered to be an undesirable or dreaded situation by the rejected person. Of course, it is nowhere close to the literal meaning, but there is a strong simile in play.
Manchester United are the club who always want more, probably they deserve more, the loyalty and the love shown by the club and the fans is unmatchable especially considering the fickle nature of the Madridstas. And Ronaldo will always have a soft spot for the ‘best friend’ but he will always prefer(or fall for) Real Madrid, the attractive bad boy in this story.
They may let him down sometimes(tax row) and the fans may be as fickle and volatile as the share market, but he is living his boyhood dream and he won’t give that up and the good guy ends up gutted, just like an archetypal Bollywood film.
In reference to pop culture, it can be added that Manchester United are ‘hooked’ to Cristiano Ronaldo. This term used in the popular sitcom ‘How I Met your mother’, is a euphemism for the concept of people being strung along by somebody else.
This applies more to the fans than the club and it may be a far-fetched comparison, but you can very well understand the point I am trying to make. Maybe, it is time to let go of this crazy fantasy that he will come back and bring back the glory days and face the reality: He is probably never coming back, I would love to be proven wrong but that is unlikely to happen.
After all, as the famous quote goes, if you love someone, you should let them go.
Also Read: Why Manchester United shouldn't hope for a Cristiano Ronaldo swansong
