BY JAMES ROSS – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
Last Saturday, Real Madrid cruised to a fairly routine 3-0 victory over fellow La Liga side Granada. However, in his post match press conference, Real Madrid’s mega star, Cristiano Ronaldo, dropped a bombshell and by stating he was “not happy” at Real Madrid, and further articulated that point by saying “It’s for professional reasons, not personal. People here at the club know why, and I have nothing further to say.” So, after Ronaldo’s pronouncements, everyone was left speculating on what was wrong with Ronaldo at Madrid. He had met with club President Florentino Perez on that day, and Ronaldo had stated he does not feel “wanted” by the club, and has further stated he doesn’t feel he has the support of the dressing room.
So, this leaves much to speculate on, as there are multiple vectors of potential that may define why one of the best three or four players in the game today has proclaimed his unhappiness at the biggest club in world soccer.
One point of contention may be the result of last Thursday’s voting on European Player of the Year, which was captured by Barcelona and Spain midfield ace Andres Iniesta. If one looks at the video, when Iniesta’s name is announced, Ronaldo’s claps, but he seems distant and rather unhappy with the announcement, his body language making him look far from magnanimous.
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But no, Cristiano has stated Iniesta “deserved it”. However, reports indicate Ronaldo was less than pleased with the effusive tweets from Real teammates (and fellow Spaniards to Iniesta) Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos supporting Iniesta’s award victory. And concerning Caillas, there is some history indicating that the two have been on uncomfortable terms for quite some time. Two years ago, Casillas’ girlfriend, a sports journalist, called Ronaldo a “selfish” and “individualistic” player in an interview. Ronaldo apparently confronted Casillas on the article, and Casillas told Cristiano she was just doing her job, and she could speak as she feels, in so many words.
Additionally, there are other reports that Ronaldo has few friends in the Madrid dressing room, with Pepe, Marcelo Vieira, Kaka, Angel Di Maria and Lassana Diarra his only friends in the dressing room. Often, when Ronaldo scores, the aforementioned are the first to congratulate their teammate and Ronaldo certainly doesn’t get the enthusiastic congratulations meted out to him by his teammates that are offered his Barcelona rival Leo Messi after every goal Messi puts away. In particular, the treatment of Brazilian Kaka has concerned Ronaldo, as Kaka was being offered on loan to a number of teams before the transfer window closed on September 1, but there were no takers, undoubtedly put off by Kaka’s huge wages.
There is one final reason, perhaps, with why Cristiano Ronaldo has decided to go public with his “unhappiness.” And it’s probably the biggest motivator for 99 per cent of the players in the game today. Which is, of course, lots and lots of moolah.
Ronaldo and Madrid have been working on a renegotiation of his current deal over the previous months, and though negotiations have supposedly been amicable, maybe CRon has decided to play the “pay me or transfer me” edict. Though few teams can afford Ronaldo (in my estimation four, Manchester United and City, Chelsea, and Barcelona), any of the four (aside from probably Barcelona) would jump at the chance to sign the man who can win you a game on his own at the drop of a hat.
So, maybe the next time Madrid president Florentino Perez sits down with Cristiano Ronaldo to talk contract, he’d best look hard at how deep the hat is that Ronaldo is thrusting into Perez’s face. We know he can fill CRon’s hat as full as Cristiano wants. The question is, will he (Perez) want to fill it up?
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