Ronaldo Transfer in Perspective

As you can see from my extensive comments below, I think Real Madrid will likely benefit from acquiring Cristiano Ronaldo. Nevertheless, to think through the ramifications of his transfer, we need some analysis of Ronaldo's strengths and liabilities. First, when Zidane joined Madrid from Juventus in 2001, he was 29 years old. Kaka recently turned 27, David Villa will be 28 in December, and Ribéry is 26. Ronaldo is only 24 years old, and may not yet be in his prime. He has already accomplished more than any of these players at a comparable age, although he was fortunate to play for the greatest club coach of the last twenty-five years. Read Gabriele Marcotti's analysis on SI.com of Ronaldo to understand why, despite his considerable liabilities, it is no exaggeration to place Ronaldo with Zidane, Ronaldo of Brazil, and Ronaldinho as the undisputed greats of an era (although eras seem to be getting shorter and shorter). Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports argues the pressure he will face in Madrid may undermine his success. From the inside, recently departed Fabio Cannovaro believes Madrid has a long way to go before they become a good team. At Goal.com, Sulmaan Ahmad foresees difficulties between Ronaldo and the leaders of the lockerroom, Guti and Raúl. Over the last couple of years, I have sensed some similarities in attitude and persona between Ronaldo and Alex Rodriguez, and Ahmad's argument brings to mind some of the chemistry issues that have plagued the Yankees in recent years. As much as I despise Real Madrid, I think such an outcome would be a disaster for the sport.

One gap that I couldn't fill in the commentary is there doesn't seem to be much discussion in soccer of a financial approach to assessing a player's value, much as has taken over sports in the U.S. In baseball, football, and (to a lesser extent) basketball, front offices calculate very carefully a player's financial value in terms of his statistical productivity, and it becomes part of the discussion among sportswriters. I only read English and French, and can usually make out the headlines of the Spanish articles even if I can't quite get the details right, and I have not seen any sort of commentary that judges Ronaldo's financial worth. The closest I have seen is whether the team can earn back his income through marketing opportunities; no discussion of his longevity, his health, his productivity, his contribution to winning, and so on. For a good example of this kind of discussion with an NBA player, see this article from The New York Times.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/gabriele_marcotti/12/03/cristiano.ronaldo/index.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AsEOuTGkZdu22YrxXISzf3Emw7YF?slug=ro-ronaldo061109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

http://www.worldsoccer.com/news/Real_Madrid_face_problems__Cannavaro_news_284468.html

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/85/england/2009/06/11/1319242/cristiano-ronaldo-the-best-player-but-worst-ego-for-madrid

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html