Ronaldo is going to Italy
Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo, somewhat larger around the middle than in his 2002 World Cup-winning prime, is expected today to complete a $10-million move from Real Madrid to AC Milan.
The three-time FIFA world player of the year’s switch from Spain to Italy -- nowhere near as momentous as his $45-million move in the opposite direction in 2002 when he left Inter Milan to join Real Madrid -- nonetheless could have ramifications as far away as Los Angeles.
Once the sale is out of the way, next on the agenda for the Spanish club is what to do about David Beckham.
Does Real Madrid keep him until his contract runs out June 30 or does it let him leave in time to join the Galaxy before the Major League Soccer season opens April 7?
The Galaxy is not sure what the answer will be.
“At this point, nothing has changed with regards to our approach to the season,” said Alexi Lalas, the Galaxy’s president and general manager. “We’re expecting him to come after the [Spanish] season.”
Could Beckham come earlier?
“I’m not holding my breath,” Lalas said.
But Real Madrid has another project in mind -- on the verge of shedding one Ronaldo, it wants to acquire another.
The target this time is Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who turns 22 next week. According to the Spanish newspaper AS, Real Madrid is willing to pay Manchester United $65 million for the player.
United Coach Alex Ferguson has accused Real Madrid of trying to stir unrest within his team, unsettling the very much in-form Cristiano Ronaldo at a time when Manchester United is battling to hold its slim lead over defending champion Chelsea in the English Premier League.
“Real has done the same thing over the years to other clubs,” Ferguson said. “They did it with David Beckham. There was nonsense going on for months and months and they got him in the end.
“But we only sell players that we want to sell, and there is no way that Ronaldo is leaving the club. He is developing really well here, he is contracted until 2010 and he won’t be going anywhere.”
Manchester United’s stance is so firm, in fact, that England’s Telegraph newspaper said the club intends to extend Ronaldo’s contract beyond 2010 and pay him at least $216,000 a week.
That would put the Portuguese youngster almost in the same company as Chelsea’s Michael Ballack and Andrei Shevchenko and Arsenal’s Thierry Henry, who each make a league-high $255,000 a week.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid Coach Fabio Capello has backed off slightly on his stance that Beckham would never again play for the club.
“People can make mistakes,” he said Friday. “When I see that he is in good shape and has a good attitude, then he can form part of the team. But he has to show it.”
Beckham sat out Real Madrid’s loss to Villareal on Saturday, its third defeat in the last five games, because of a knee injury and sat out the club’s victory over Mallorca the week before because of a thigh strain.
“I can only select players who have trained, and he hasn’t trained,” Capello said. “As with all the other players, it will depend a lot on his physical condition.”
Beckham, meanwhile, will soon be reunited with Ferguson, if only for one evening.
He has accepted an invitation to represent a European all-star team in a game against his old club, Manchester United, on March 13 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the treaty that led to the formation of the European Union, and of Manchester United’s 50 years of playing in European competition.
The game will be Beckham’s first at Old Trafford since leaving Manchester in 2003 to move to Madrid.
“He was a great player at this club and he never had a chance to say goodbye to the fans because the transfer was done during the summer,” Ferguson said last month.
“I think he will get a great welcome and deservedly so.”
It could be Beckham’s farewell to Europe. The transfer window for MLS closes March 31, so if the Galaxy has not pried him loose from Real Madrid by then, he will not come until after July 1, when he becomes a free agent.
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