Ronaldo may be fat and slow, but at
£5m he's a bargain
Thirty years old and a three-time Fifa world player of the year,
Ronaldo has, with the exception of the last four months, always
scored goals in industrial quantities at Real Madrid. Even his
'disappointing' World Cup last summer saw him net three. Despite
that, he's set to cost goal-shy Milan an exceedingly trim
£5m.
Of course, Ronaldo will be cup-tied and unable to help the
Rossoneri in their European campaign. There are the risks too that
his arrival will disturb the balance of the Milanello locker room,
or that he'll go the way of some other recent Milan salvage
projects, like last year's blowout Christian Vieri, or Fernando
Redondo, who famously signed for Milan from Real Madrid only to
suffer a career-ending injury on the very first day of training.
However, given that Milan have just lost forward Marco Borriello to
a doping suspension, and have only the thus-far disappointing
Ricardo Oliveira and Pippo Inzaghi available to partner Alberto
Gilardino, Big Ron is still worth a punt and then some.
For a start, he's already brought Milan worldwide publicity - and
for a club languishing a humiliating 30 points behind their former
stooges Inter, the value of grabbing the limelight shouldn't be
underestimated. Milan, it says, will not go quietly into that dark
night. And neither will Ronaldo. At a time when he could have been
cashing in his CV on football's new frontiers, his return to the
city of Milan amid calls of high treason from Inter (the club that
nursed him through 2 ½ years of ruptured knees only to then see him
do one to Madrid) underlines his desire to prove himself again at
the top of the game.
Ronaldo's days of scampering 50 yards up past gob-smacked defenders
may be over, but at Milan that won't matter; all he'll be asked to
do is stand around and poach to his heart's content.
