Still fully expect the de Jong transfer to happen. Laporta is just setting up his "we wanted to keep him, but evil La Liga and their cruel rules forced a sale" spin ... he did similarly with Messi last year. Also, I find it hilarious that he says "we'll do everything to keep him", but at the same time concedes that de Jong would have to take a massive pay cut. Laporta is just full of ####, as usual.
With Ronaldo, I don't think it's black and white. I think that people who just heap all the blame for Uniteds bad season on him have no idea what they are talking about, but at the same time, I do think it's an unhappy marriage for both sides at this point. I'm just curious a.) which club would be out there for Ronaldo, and b.) what United's plans to replace him are.
a.) I actually can't think of many. It's no surprise that Napoli has been mentioned, because I don't think there's a club from the upper echelon that would fit. Bayern could be a possibility, once they sell Lewandowski to Barcelona - but I doubt they'd screw their wage bill like that. I don't see United selling him to another PL club, there's nothing in Spain and I can't see PSG either. That leaves Italy.
b.) the main reason why I'd have prefered another year of Ronaldo is the fact that striker market is just messed up this year. Nunez cost a fortune after a single good season in Portugal, and there really aren't a lot of quality options out there. Also, United have planned on spending their whole budget elsewhere and then go for a striker next year ... so Ronaldo leaving complicates things, to say the least.
But while many United fans lost their #### yesterday, I don't think it's all doom and gloom. Like I said, I still expect de Jong to happen ... and we'll just have to see how the Ronaldo thing shakes out.
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