Posts Tagged ‘European Player Of The Year’

Endorsements block a ‘major factor’ in Ronaldo’s move

• Ronaldo could earn ‘at least £85m’ in commercial deals
• Sir Alex Ferguson admits winger wanted to leave United

Cristiano Ronaldo’s frustration with Sir Alex Ferguson’s reluctance to encourage Manchester United players to exploit their commercial potential was a major factor in the 24-year-old’s desire to leave Old Trafford, industry sources say.

It is a scenario that echoes the experience of David Beckham, whose departure to Real Madrid in 2003 was influenced by Ferguson’s view that his off-field profile was distracting focus from the team.

Ferguson last night admitted he had been fighting a losing battle to keep Ronaldo from Real’s clutches, saying: “He wanted to leave, it’s as simple as that. He was going to go some time. We’ve done well to keep him for so long.”

Mary-Ellen Field, a leading expert in commercial and licensing rights, told Observer Sport that Ronaldo’s £80m move will open up a huge range of previously restricted commercial options and will allow him to earn “at least £85m” from endorsements over the next decade.

“Ferguson’s view that [commercial exploitation] takes a player’s mind off the game is valid,” Field said. “However, the contract between the player and licensee means they usually have to work 20 days a year at most.

“With any brand building, whether it’s a person or product, the more positive exposure you get, the more valuable your brand becomes. It would have been beneficial for the club and player to get as much exposure as possible.”

In 2002, United signed a 13-year £300m contract with Nike that allows the company to control the club’s ­global licensing and retail operations. believes that if Ronaldo had been able to develop, for example, his own perfume brand, like Beckham’s lucrative Pure Instinct, it would have been mutually favourable. Despite being the world and European player of the year, Ronaldo’s only major deal is a recent agreement with Castrol, in contrast to Beckham’s blue-chip partnerships with Armani and Adidas. “There is no downside. The player is happy with his endorsements, and the club can sell the product and get the mark-up – website sales are huge,” Field said.

Once Ronaldo’s current commercial worth of £18m is added to his basic salary at Madrid – a five-year contract should earn him at least £45m – with the correct off-field management the player could accumulate more than £175m by the time he is Beckham’s age, 34. Beckham is ­currently worth around £125m.

Simon Chadwick, professor of sport business strategy and marketing at ­Coventry University, said: “United have a greater desire for on-field performance, driven by Ferguson. From the people I speak to at Real regularly, there is a much greater sense that Madrid is an entertainment brand rather than a football club.”

Florentino Pérez, Madrid’s president, has said that the deal for Ronaldo will be paid for through improving “our accounts by increasing the club’s ­economic value”. This will be achieved by Ronaldo and the Spanish club’s other new acquisition, Kaká, being aggressively marketed in developing markets, including Asia, as Beckham was when he signed for Real. Madrid estimate that his four years at the Bernabeu boosted shirt sales by 137%.

And in contrast to United, Ronaldo and Kaká will be encouraged to develop their individual commercial activities beyond Madrid’s own in-house deals, to expand their profiles globally.

Surprisingly, Ronaldo has not ­registered his name as a trademark, which Beckham, as most high-profile sports stars do, did early in his career. It is thought Ronaldo’s advisers, acting on legal advice, decided this was too expensive, though it would cost him little more than two weeks’ wages.Last July, Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo’s agent, signed with CAA, the American agency whose clients also include Steven Spielberg, Brad Pitt and Beckham, but has yet to yield any deals. Towards the end of 2007, Ronaldo was approached by a ­consortium, via GE Finance, which was interested in developing his commercial interests. Mendes signed a letter of intent, but by last summer that had been cancelled, which left Ronaldo disappointed.

Madrid’s investment ­strategy appears to be set to continue with reports last night suggesting they are close to signing Valencia’s David Villa in a £34m deal. It would take the club’s outlay on players this month to more than £170m.

Meanwhile Ronaldo has indicated that any negative reaction to his move will merely spur him on. “I love it when people jeer me. I love to see the hate in their eyes, to hear the insults. It doesn’t bother me,” he said in an interview with the French magazine So Foot which was given before his move to Madrid and will be published this month. “It’s true lots of people hate me but there are even more who love me and who support me. I feel bad only when I play badly. Fortunately, that happens rarely.”

David Lacey: Boos reveal Cristiano Ronaldo as a Red legend for our times

Six years ago, as part of the club's centenary celebrations, Manchester United fans voted for the club's 100 greatest players. Eric Cantona topped the poll ahead of George Best, which was not altogether surprising since the Frenchman had retired in 1997 and was still fresh in people's minds whereas many United supporters had not been born when Best played his last game for the club in 1974.

Such is the ephemeral nature of football fame that were a similar poll to be conducted now Cantona and Best might well find themselves relegated to second and third place behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who has just been proclaimed European player of the year on the strength of his contribution to Manchester United's success last season, when he scored 42 goals as the team retained the Premier League title and won the Champions League.

If United fans of a certain age had scoffed at the notion that Cantona was a greater footballer than Best they would surely succumb to apoplexy at the thought of Ronaldo being rated more highly than El Beatle. For Best was the stuff of legends whereas Ronaldo is just a pout with a few tricks.

Unfair, of course, but this is what happens when precious memories come face to face with modern reality. And in this case the reality is that in terms of footballing gifts the Portuguese does stand comparison with Best. Ronaldo, like Best, can change the course of a match with the twinkling of a foot even if he lacks the twinkle in George's eye. He also attracts rough treatment from opponents possibly roused not only by his skills but his habit of reacting to hard tackles with plaintive gestures towards the referee. Ronaldo's type will always bring out the Chopper Harris in defenders.

Alex Ferguson's complaint that Ronaldo has become a target does not do the player any favours although in the case of the treatment he received from Villarreal in a recent Champions League match the United manager did have a point. At least in this instance the Italian referee, Roberto Rosetti, took action, unlike a fellow-countryman, Concetto Lo Bello, who was in charge of the 1968 European Cup final at Wembley and allowed Benfica to hack down Best at will.

Best won the European award that year and was at the height of his popularity among fans of various persuasions. This is something that has changed in the game. Outstanding players used to be appreciated for their talents whatever their colours. A few, such as Thierry Henry, still are. But now, on opponents' grounds, Ronaldo is liable to be booed whenever he touches the ball, although many will have forgotten why they are booing. Ronaldo does not go to ground quite so easily as he did and if his general demeanour still suggests a prima donna with a headache there are plenty of teams who could live with that should he ever leave Old Trafford.

When Best was among the visitors it was touch and go whether the gates would be closed before the kick-off. Until George arrived the roar of the crowd was rarely if ever punctuated by the squeals of hysterical teenaged girls. And nobody booed.

Football fans have always wanted to see their teams win but there was a time when more of them turned out to pay homage to the great names of the day, friend or foe. In the 1950-51 season Blackpool, their home attendances restricted by the tight confines of Bloomfield Road, had an average gate of just over 29,000 but the figure for their away games was the highest in the league at nearly 46,000, such was the attraction of Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen.

Today's best players may compare well with the giants of the past but the aura that surrounded the likes of Matthews and Best has all but disappeared. Frequent exposure on television has had much to do with this. Matthews was only seen live on the box on a handful of Cup final days or in the occasional midweek international and the better part of Best's career was played out in black and white. Ronaldo, on the other hand, gets fouled in high definition and barracked in quadraphonic sound.

In a new list of United's greatest 100, and if commonsense prevailed, he would probably make the top half-dozen but even that might mean dropping the man mischievously voted into last place last time. One Ralph Milne, not so much a legend as a leg end. Pity.

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Ronaldo slams Webb for red card

Cristiano Ronaldo last night strongly criticised the referee Howard Webb for sending him off in Sunday's Manchester derby and claimed the man considered by many to be the Premier League's best referee had failed to listen to his explanation for the handball which led to the dismissal.

Ronaldo, in a statement issued on his agent Jorge Mendes's website, claimed: "[Wayne] Rooney knocked in a corner, I jumped and that was when I heard a shout from [Micah] Richards [City's defender] and simultaneously the sound of a whistle.

"At that moment I was convinced that the referee had whistled for a foul. I stopped trying to head the ball and score a goal, and I grabbed the ball so Richards could get help . . . after Richards yelled I thought that he was hurt and needed assistance. I tried to explain what had happened but he didn't want to listen. I hadn't done anything wrong. I heard the whistle so I took the initiative to stop the match."

All of which must have come as a surprise to the Manchester City team who, quite apart from hearing no whistle, had seen Ronaldo pick up a first booking for hacking down their team-mate Shaun Wright-Phillips and then found himself lucky to escape a second yellow seconds later, when the Portuguese sarcastically applauded Webb's award. Manchester United won the game 1-0.

Ronaldo, who is in Paris where he was expected to be named European Player of the Year and pick up the award at a reception this evening, then blamed the City crowd. "I understood the referee wanted to talk to me but then, maybe influenced by the fans, he put his hand in his pocket and sent me off."

All of which sees him suspended for one match, tomorrow's low-priority Carling Cup quarter final at home to Blackburn in which he was unlikely to play anyway.

"I have come to understand that every movement I make, on or off the pitch, is analysed to death," Ronaldo added. "If I don't celebrate goals it is because I am sad, if I talk to the public it is because I have lost my humility. People are always waiting for me to do something and they pick on absolutely normal and unimportant things to criticise. They analyse things that have nothing unusual about them through a magnifying glass."

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