Sunday, April 20, 2008

How Much Is Cristiano Ronaldo Worth?

On April 1st some British media reported that Real Madrid promised a £100M deal for Man United's Cristiano Ronaldo. Obviously it was a April Fool story, but recently according to Spanish sports newspaper MARCA los Merengue is planning to take Ronaldo away from the old Trafford with £100M. Some people think that it’s crazy spending that much money to buy a player and Real Madrid’s sporting director Mijatovic has denied the rumor subsequently. Despite the facticity of the news, is Ronaldo over-valued?



I don’t think so. Yes with that money you can buy 3 or 4 top soccer players in the transfer market but Ronaldo is worth that based on the following reasons:

The Brand

After the vanishing of the previous Galactico period, Real Madrid is in lack of a real top player from both athletic and marketing perspectives. Raul is getting old and second-class, Casillas, Robinho, Robeen and Ramos are not there yet. 23-year-old Ronaldo has a very good looking and already is a favourite of the advertising industry. He can promote the club’s brand image definitely.

The Money


Real Madrid did take another idol away from Man United before – David Beckham. During the past four years Beckham earned more than £25M for the club, much more compared to his transfer fee and salary. We can foresee that Ronald’s commercial value will also be tremendous, and he’s pretty young. So is £100M a big deal?

The Athlete


In the past few years Real Madrid haven’t got a top right winger. We have more than enough good players on the left – Robinho, Roben, even Drenthe and Marcelo, but on the other side only Ramos can be relied on. Ronaldo can fulfil the lacuna of tactic. Also he’s very strong, which is very important for a winger in modern soccer.

Although it’s almost impossible to sign Ronaldo at current stage but Real Madrid should always keep an eye on him and seek all the opportunities to make the right decision, no matter what the cost will be.

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