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The drawn-out saga of Cristiano Ronaldo's
transfer to Real Madrid has had a destabilising effect on the
Madrid dressing room. With no further indication as to whether
Ronaldo will become a Real player before the start of the new
season, one team member has taken it upon themselves to find out
the latest development by going straight to the top.
According to Spanish sports daily AS, an unnamed player
jokingly asked Real president Ramon Calderon when Ronaldo would be
joining the club to be greeted with a smile and a "Don't worry,
he'll be here soon" reply.
Wesley Sneijder has already aired his concerns at
Real's determination to acquire the 23-year-old this summer. The
Real midfielder has questioned the wisdom of signing Ronaldo
because of the effect his wages would have on the squad
While separating himself from any financial envy,
Sneijder believes that some members of the Spanish champions' squad
would not be happy earning less than the Portuguese star. "The
truth is that could happen a bit. It would be bad for the squad if
one player had a much higher salary than the rest," he said. "It
would not matter to me, but I know that there are other players
that would not like that. But I do not want to say much because
every day there is different news."
It has been claimed that Ronaldo could earn
£200,000-a-week by joining Real who will also break the world
record transfer to persuade the Glazers to finally part with last
season's top goalscorer.
On paper, Real may be one of the world's richest clubs
but earlier this year they were forced to take out a £30 million
loan to cover operating costs and to compensate for the estimated
£30m loss in annual revenue of David Beckham's move to Los Angeles
Galaxy last summer.
Spanish newspaper Marca, however, believe Real will now
take out another loan, this time in the region of €70m to fund
their bid. Their thinking being that Ronaldo's arrival will recoup
their losses in merchandising and promotional deals. United
continue to insist that Ronaldo is not for sale even though Dimitar
Berbatov is most likely to become the Portuguese international's
replacement as he nears a £28m move to Old Trafford.
Barcelona are reportedly ready to scupper United's bid
to bring in the Spurs striker with a €30m bid as their negotiations
with Arsenal over Emmanuel Adebayor look to have broken down.
Real's rivals have cash at their disposal following the £19.8m
departure of Ronaldinho to AC Milan.
