CHINA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Ronaldo will regret leaving United for "vulgar" fee says Charlton

Record ID: 336081

  • Title: CHINA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Ronaldo will regret leaving United for "vulgar" fee says Charlton
  • Date: 19th June 2009
  • Summary: NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER MANCHESTER UNITED AND ENGLAND PLAYER BOBBY CHARLTON SAYING "What really saddens me is that a country the size of China doesn't have the wherewithal to qualify on a regular basis for the World Cup. You're asking me to talk about Japan, you're asking me to talk about both the Koreas, and China, with the largest popul
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2009 13:00
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  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA96IHZNSKL1Z2A7RNI7REJRUW3
  • Story Text: Manchester United great Bobby Charlton says Cristiano Ronaldo will regret leaving Old Trafford, and the 80 million pound ($131 million) fee from Real Madrid is "vulgar".
    Manchester United great Bobby Charlton said the fee the club have accepted for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid is "vulgar", adding that the player will eventually regret leaving Old Trafford.
    The 71-year-old, who has been associated with the English Premier League club for more than half a century, said he was confident United manager Alex Ferguson would find suitable replacements for the Portuguese forward.
    But during the news conference in Beijing on Thursday (June 18) to announce the club's partnership with Chinese electronics firm Aigo, the United director regretted the loss of the star player.
    "It is an enormous amount of money, and it seems sometimes a little bit vulgar. But never the less that is business I'm afraid. We have responsibilities as a company, we have responsibility to all the football fans that support Manchester United to do the best we can for them. And it was decided that Ronaldo could go because we knew that he wanted to go, but it's a little bit soul-searching, you wonder if you've made the right decision. we shall never know until the season starts next time. But it is a lot of money, and we will make sure that we use it properly and that our club will be better for it," he said.
    Charlton, who scored 249 goals in 758 games for United from 1956 to 1973, said he thought Ronaldo would eventually rue leaving the three-times European champions for Spain.
    "He is a great player, he is a great player. He's been with us five or six years, and in that time he has improved out of all recognition from when he first started. He now thinks a lot more, and I suppose in time he will reflect and say that the best time that he ever had as a footballer was when he was with Manchester United. It was better for him and it was fantastic for the club. But we have no divine rights, and he wanted to play for Real Madrid, so we talked him out of it for one year, but he's gone, and we move on," Charlton said.
    Ronaldo has scored 118 goals in 291 appearances since he joined United in 2003 but Charlton did not think he is irreplaceable.
    The club launched a five-year partnership with Chinese electronics manufacturer Aigo on Thursday, a deal which the club described as "up there" with its biggest commercial deals.
    The English champions will also be in China to play Chinese Super League side Hangzhou Greentown during their Asian tour on July 26.
    Charlton said more touring in East Asia was part of the clubs strategy to stay competitive.
    "Well it's an expansion, we're moving on from the UK. We are a world company now, we're a very famous company and a very popular company around the world, so we have to try to continue to maintain that and maintain the standard. And if we're able to maintain that standard then we're also able to keep where we want to be - at the top - rather than in the middle or down at the bottom. At the top. That's always our plan," he said.
    But Charlton bemoaned the state of national football in China, saying he felt the world's most populous country had huge potential.
    "What really saddens me is that a country the size of China doesn't have the wherewithal to qualify on a regular basis for the World Cup. You're asking me to talk about Japan, you're asking me to talk about both the Koreas, and China, with the largest population in the world, can't produce a team that's good enough to do it. I think that there has to be maybe a longer look at where Chinese football is going," he said.
    China's national team, often slated by the public and the media for its repeated failures, made an early exit from 2010 World Cup qualifying late last year.
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