Real Madrid’s president, Ramon Calderon, as well as their Sporting Director, Predrag Mijatovic, can’t seem to keep their mouths shut when it comes to Ronaldo. For several weeks the Real Madrid representatives have spoken about our player to anyone who will listen. Knowing that is a lifelong dream for Ronaldo to one day play in Spain, they believe it’s acceptable to publicly tap him up.
Whilst United have claimed they are ready to report Real Madrid to FIFA and have insisted the Glazers will be happier to see him rot in the stands than sold to Real this summer, nothing seems to be throwing them off the scent.
Just yesterday, Calderon suggested that they were going to call it a day, saying “one has to know when to stop these things.”
However, today it’s the same old nonsense, with him claiming that no price will be too high for them.
May 28th 2008 – club’s official website
“We haven’t done, nor will we do anything against the wishes of a club that we consider a friend like Manchester United,” Calderon said. “Our relationship with Manchester is magnificent and we will not do anything that would violate the will of a team, just as we would not like that done to us. We know Manchester doesn’t want to sell and we have nothing to say.”
May 28th – Sky Sports News
“We have not interfered with Manchester United’s contract agreement with Cristiano Ronaldo,” Calderon said. “We’re sorry that Manchester United – a club with which we have an excellent relationship – is annoyed with us because Real Madrid have nothing to do with that aspect. I want to clear this up with him and assure him we are not going to influence any player to break a contractual relationship. We are not going to start a conflict. If a club doesn’t want to sell a player, why would we insist that they do sell him?”
May 29th 2008 – Sky Sports News
“You can’t buy what the owner does not want to sell,” Calderon said. “Real Madrid are friends with Manchester United and we do not want to fall out with them.”
May 31st 2008 – Diario de Noticias
“He is an objective, but we cannot do anything if his club do not want to part with him,” Predrag Mijatovic said. “At this time we do not have anything with the player.”
May 31st 2008
“At this moment Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best in the world, a fantastic player and it is clear that we are interested,” Calderon said. “But he has a team and never will we go against the rules of Fifa and Uefa.”
June 2nd 2008 – Marca
“We would like to have a player like Cristiano, but if he does not sign for us then it would not be a major problem,” Calderon said. “The club has said that they do not want to sell him and we cannot keep going back. One has to know when to stop these things in order to avoid the frustration that the fans could feel. His club have to want to and if they want to negotiate with Madrid or any other club then they will.”
Today
“What I have always said is that this club wants its money to be on the pitch, not in the bank,” Calderon said. “Nothing is expensive or cheap on its own. The counter-balance is what you receive for the price you pay. They know what we earn and it is made public that Madrid has it. Last year we made signings that looked expensive but now they look cheap.”
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