Cristiano Ronaldo - What's next?

A source close to the Portuguese captain has reported that he is 'upset' after being accused of tax evasion and that he no longer wants to play his football in Spain, meaning leaving Real Madrid. Cristiano was accused of defrauding the authorities of millions of euros in tax, an accusation he has denied. The same source who reported on Ronaldo's comments has also said that the Madrid forward, "feels he is honest, has a good character and did everything okay." The current holder of the Ballon D'or has recently signed a new contract with the Spanish champions, running until 2021. As well as this, Ronaldo's buy out clause is an incredible 1 billion euros, (£874.88 million) making it highly unlikely CR7 will leave the Spanish capital without the blessing of the club. The accusations were made on the 14th June 2017, Real Madrid quickly released a statement backing their record goal scorer and saying they believe he will 'prove his innocence'. Despite the backing from his club the news today suggests Cristiano is set on leaving the club and his decision will not change, so if this does come to pass, what happens next? Even if you take the ludicrous buy out clause out of the equation, there is still a very select few teams on the planet who could afford Ronaldo's wages, and an even smaller selection who could secure his signature. So lets have a look, where could be the next home of Portugal's finest.

Bayern Munich -

I feel this is the most unlikely option but one certainly which holds merit. One aspect of Ronaldo's character is that he wants to be the best, and from what his career has shown us so far, he only wants to play for the best and Bayern certainly fit the bill. The German champions are one of few teams who would be willing to shill out an incredible amount of money on Cristiano's wages with Polish striker Robert Lewandowski making over 200,000 euros a week at the time of writing this. On top of that, five members of the first team no including Lewandowski are earning over 150,000 euros at the moment, showing that they are not shy about paying their players what they deserve. Now Ronaldo's wage bill would arguably double that of Lewandowski's, but the current combined wage bill at the Allianz Arena indicates the money is their to be spent. Then there is of course, image. As I previously mentioned, Cristiano appears to want nothing more in football than to be the best, the be more specific, better then Lionel Messi. One argument Ronaldo supporters love to use if the fact that he has proven his quality in two different countries (England and Spain,) winning the Ballonparis  D'or in both, where as Messi has never played domestic football outside of Spain. So the draw to turn that tally of two countries into three is one that could be potentially very tempting for Ronaldo. and as he looks nailed on to win his 5th Ballon D'or this year, tying Messi's tally of five, we could potentially see CR7 winning the famous award while representing a club in his third different country.

Paris Saint Germain (PSG) -

Once again, the chance for Ronaldo to take ANOTHER country by storm. Now as a club PSG do not hold the same drawing power of Bayern Munich, the Paris side have a history of underachieving outside of their domestic competitions, and this year even failed to win the league title. However one thing PSG have over Bayern is their bank account. The company which owns Paris SG are Oryx Qatar Sports Investments, ran by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the chief executive of the club, also with a lot of investments coming from the Qatari Royal Family. PSG are very familiar with spending huge sums of money on a player, Edison Cavini's signing from Napoli in 2013 is the national record in France and much like Bayern before, the wage bill coming from Paris more then indicates they could afford to pay Ronaldo. Unlike Bayern however who I realistically couldn't see paying the money Ronaldo would demand, I wouldn't be surprised to see PSG offering exactly what Cristiano wants. It was also reported that two years ago, the then French champions offer £125 million for the services of the Madrid forward, which would still stand as a world record transfer, so the interest is most definitely there. This would then just leave the decision of whether or not the Ronaldo would be happy taking a step down in quality to get away from Spain, this move could also be what is needed in Paris for PSG to really become the powerhouse in European football everyone expected them to become three years ago.


ANY Chinese team -

In December of last year an unnamed Chinese side offered a staggering £250 million to Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo. The club were prepared to pay an annual salary of £85million, which would have made his by far the highest paid player in the world. Money is all that China has to Offer Cristiano really, with the standard of football being incredibly low compared to what he will be used to, the attention on him will diminish and it could potentially lead to him falling behind in the running for the mantel of 'best in the world'. But money s a strange thing in football, surely there is only so much you can spend, and with well over £1million a week going into his bank account, how many Chinese cars could Ronaldo buy before getting bored. But we'd have said the same about Carlos Tevez, about Oscar, about Ramires, about Ezequiel Levezzi, and Hulk, and Alex Teixeira, all would class players who threw away a career in the top leagues for the top wage bills. Could I see Ronaldo every going to China when he fired in a brace during the Champions League final? Of course not. But Now? When it appears his head has been turned? Who knows.

Manchester United -

You know the second any United fan caught wind that Ronaldo might be leaving Madrid they all jumped to the conclusion that he would be 'coming home'. Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United seems to pop up in every transfer window, and 99% of the time it is wishful thinking on the part of the reporters and the fans of the Manchester club. Yes, it is a very big possibility that Ronaldo could return to Old Trafford one day, but when he has been in the peak of his career, breaking records and making history. His former club have been struggling, failing to quality for the Champions League in their last three seasons. However, after winning the Europa league this year and guaranteed progress to the group stages, maybe the 'stage' is set for Ronaldo to come back. United manager Jose Mourinho knows the Spanish press very well, and will understand exactly what his countryman is going through. After managing Cristano at the Bernabeu during the early 2010's, you'd imagine it wouldn't be beyond the reach of the special one to convince Ronaldo of his next move. Then, once again, we come back to money. Let's just look at it this way, by signing Paul Pogba last summer for 105 million euros, they broke the world record transfer fee, proving they have no problem what so every spending big to get their man. Five, I repeat, five players were being paid over £200,000 a week at the start of the 2016/2017 season, with Pogba's wages pushing very close to £300,000, so it is very clear that they also have no problem paying huge wages either. In reality, if Ronaldo is to move, Manchester United seems like the best bet. He clearly loves the club, thanks to the Europa League win he wont be missing out on the champions league. He can reunite with Jose Mourinho and help to rebuild United back to where they belong (This would go a long way in proving Ronaldo is the best of all time). The wage demands are no problem, and despite the incredible buyout clause I'm sure the Red Devils board could offer a sum which would force the men in charge of Los Blancos to listen. Will it happen? It is still very early days (The news was leaked only earlier today) But it certainly isn't impossible.

Real Madrid -

Then there's the possibility that this is all just Cristiano trying to make the authorities forget what he's being accused on and make the entire country focus on the possibility of him leaving. Okay maybe this is reading a little to far into it, it's highly likely that Ronaldo is very hurt by the accusations if they are indeed false and he made the statements in the 'heat of the moment'. You'd expect Ronaldo to handle the situation a little better, especially after spending the entirety of the last decade in the limelight, but it is human at the end of that day. Real Madrid are the biggest club on the planet, are on the back of making history in the Champions League and winning their first Spanish league title since 2012. They also are paying CR7 an amount of money very few teams on the planet can match and you'd imagine offer him all of the perks that come with being the best player in the world. Possibly biggest of all is that by being a 'galactico' their is no bigger stage for Ronaldo so show his quality and continue to grow as a player. Since signing in 2009, Madrid's number 7 has evolved his game from a tricky winger to a clinical goalscorer, and the world has taken note. From 2009 until 2012 Lionel Messi was by far and away the world's best, and four straight Ballon Do'rs prove that fact. But since he started to adjust his game, Ronaldo has made it a much more level playing field, it's neck and neck. The change in his game could see Portugal's captain playing at the top level for another 5 years, his intensity of play has slowed and he appears to be in the shape of his life. Also you'd imagine almost EVERY goal scoring record in Europe would have been broken by then, because that's just what he does. To be honest, I can't see Cristiano ever leaving the Bernabeu, the biggest club in the world and the man who wants to be the best player in the world, it's a perfect fit.

English youth football - Why isn't this a bigger deal?

On the 11th June 2017 England reached their second ever men's World Cup final and their first since 1966. However unlike that famous day at Wembley, this final saw the under 20's take on South American side Venezuela... and they won! That's right, England are world champions! So why isn't this everywhere? Why do so many people not seem to care about history being made in English football? Simple. In this country, we don't take youth football seriously.

Now this isn't everyone, I for one am a firm believer in youth internationals and think they should be taken just as seriously as senior internationals. They help to prepare younger players for international football, where a mesh in styles makes it a completely different animal to the domestic game. Also preparing the future first team players for the travelling involved with qualification for major tournaments and the tournaments itself will make the experience much let daunting. Most of all however the experience gained by youth internationals is one which could set the precedent for the years to come, it could be a sneak peak into the countries future successes on the world stage.

Now with the FIFA U20 World Cup and the UEFA U21 European Championships you would expect to see the winning nation's senior side mirroring it's youth systems success a few years on, and on plenty of occasions that is correct. Italy perhaps being the prime examples, between the years of 1992 and 2004 Italy won 5 out of 7 under 21's European Championships. The next competition they won? The 2006 FIFA World Cup. The best way to look at this is to see the group of players that featured in Italy's youth successes leading up to their 4th world cup win. Starting with their 1996 tournament success, the man named player of the tournament that year was none other then Fabio Cannavaro, the future Italian captain who would lift the World Cup for Italy a decade later. In that same side we saw great AC Milan centre back Alessandro Nesta, who played a crucial role in the Azzurir's senior defence for 10 years to come. And of course, Francesco Totti, the Roma striker who has just announced his retirement a very impressive 21 years after scoring the winner in the semi finals of the 1996 Under 21's European championship on the way to winning the competition. Now to the year 2000, straight out of the block can you guess the scorer of a brace in the final and winner of player of the tournament as well as the golden boot? Andrea Pirlo. The midfielder went on to have an incredible career at the top, playing for the likes of Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus, during the 2006 World Cup Pirlo was voted as the third best player in the competition, showing his success on the national stage. Much like Pirlo a future anchor in Italy's midfield featured in the before mentioned tournament, Gennaro Gattuso. The hard tackling midfielder went on to feature 73 times for the senior side and was named man of the match in the 2006 World Cup quarter final, proving to be a very important part of that side. And finally onto Italy's 2004 Under 21's European Championship win which saw Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Gilardino and Andrea Barzagli all starting in the final two years before playing a part in Italy's World cup win, with Gilardino, much like Pirlo 4 years prior, winning the golden boot and title of best player of the tournament.

Italy are a prime example how success on the youth level can translate to success at the senior tournaments, but they aren't the only example. Germany are the current World Champions after winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, just 5 years prior at the 2009 Under 21's European Championship, they managed to roll over England 4-0 in the final (We'll get back to that later). In that final Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Mesut Ozil, Howedes and Manuel Neuer all started, these same five players also started the 2014 FIFA World cup Final. Sami Khedira also started in the youth final and despite not featuring from the start in their World Cup winning performance, was a big part of their overall campaign. During Spain's most successful period in their history, winning three major senior tournaments back to back to back and making history in the process, their Under 21 side also won the European Champions in 2011 with Juan Mata staring. The current Manchester United midfielder won player of the tournament, and just one year later scored in Spain's 4-0 win against Italy during UEFA 2012 European Championships final.

Italy, Germany and Spain are the three most recent sides to translate youth success into senior titles. Until Portugal's European Championship win in 2016, the previously mentioned nations were also the only three sides to win a major international competition in the previous decade, proving that success at the youth level can be a sign of things to come. So why aren't more Englishman sighting the Under 20's World Cup win as a look into the future? Why, do we not have the confidence that this group of players can end what is now over 50 years of hurt? Simple, England and the FA don't take youth internationals seriously. Remember the U21's 2009 European Championship I mentioned earlier? When a German side made up of 5 future world champions beat England 4-0? This was the first final ANY England side had reached since the 1980's, which is a major achievement. Well lets look at that England side. Now at the time of writing this, 14th June 2017, England have just faced and lost 3-2 to France in a friendly in Paris. Do you know how many members of the 2009 under 21's side were a part, not of the starting eleven, but of the twenty three man squad? Zero. Overall nine of the German players from the match day squad in 2009 featured in their most recent squad, but zero for England. The players who were seen as the future of English football have, in the most part, done nothing of real note since their losing effort against Germany in 2009, with only 6 of them ever playing for the senior team, three of which playing within the last 12 months but as of right now, not a single member of the 2009 Under 21's side is a part of the England squad.

Okay but a bad history of translating youth success into senior success isn't everything, a lot of very talented youngsters break through the ranks every year around the country, the likes of Marcus Rashford and Dele Ali are two prime examples. Recent research has valued Ali as the second most valuable player in Europe (trailing only to Neymar) and the Spurs midfielder is the current PFA Young Player of the Year! Now Marcus Rashford, despite a relatively slow season, scored 5 goals in his first 11 league games for Manchester United and shot to stardom very quickly, being touted as the leader of England's next generation of front men. However this is my problem, Ali and Rashford are 21 and 19 years old respectively, and yet despite the Under 20's World Cup taking place, as well at the Under 21's Toulon Tournament both of which England won, neither Ali or Rashford were featured in the squads. Also in two days (16th June 2017) the Under 21's European Championships for 2017 gets under way, the tournament which has shown a bigger glimpse into the future then any other, and yet again, neither Rashford or Ali are featuring. This takes it right back to my very first point, neither player is going to these tournaments because the FA do not see youth football as a priority. Now with Dele Ali it is different, he is a guaranteed starter in the England team so to some degree you can understand his involvement being solely with the senior team. But Rashford does not start for England and rarely features at all, so you'd think the opportunity to win some silverware and be a focal point for the youth sides going into competitions would be a great opportunity for the teenager to get some experience on the international level, putting him in a much better position for the future. But no, instead he sits on the bench for the senior team. And this is why expectations are virtually none existent coming from the Under 20's World Cup win, yes it's a great achievement, but how can we tout these players as the 'future of English football' if the best young players in England right now don't even feature in the squad despite being eligible?

As soon as a player is seen as 'good enough' he is forced into the senior squad whether he's ready or not. Player for the senior sides at a younger age is fine, there is nothing wrong with that, what is wrong with it however, is if sitting on the bench watching a senior friendly takes precedent over playing in a youth world cup final. Players being made unavailable by their club, the FA or simply not being interesting in featuring in youth internationals is exactly why winning the Under 20's World Cup means nothing. The 'next generation' of England players will likely have a handful of Under 20's and Under 21's caps between them purely because it isn't treated with the respect it deserves, which is the respect other countries treat it with. Footballing giants like Germany use the youth systems to build teams, to build players and to give them the experience that will help them drastically in the senior competitions to come. England use youth football as something for EFL players and Premier League kids to feature in who will likely never get a real shot at the first team.

But yay... England are world champions.

What Just Happened? - Real Madrid 4-1 Juventus

A Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Real Madrid secured their 12th European cup and third title in the last fours years, a dominance which even surpasses that of  Barcelona's from 2006 until 2011. Truly a game of two halves we saw the best Europe has to offer on the biggest stage, and a real advert for the Champions League as a whole.

Massimiliano Allegri's side started the strongest, looking organised from back to front, with record signing Gonzalo Higuain stinging Keylor Navas's palms and the star studded defence of Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini keeping Madrid's attackers in particular Cristiano Ronaldo quiet. For all of 20 minutes anyway. A beautifully worked moved by the holders saw Ronaldo combine with full back Dani Carvajal, who pulled the ball back into the perfect position for CR7 to strike into the bottom left hand corner. A slight deflection off of Bonucci made it even more difficult for Gigi Buffon to react to and against the run of play Real were ahead. 1-0.

However the Italian champions didn't let going behind phase them and were instantly back on the attack. Miralem Pjanic came very close to drawing level after his well hit shot was superbly saved by the Madrid stopped Navas, causing the commentators to comment on Real's link to Manchester United number 1 David De Gea and asking the question, 'Do they really need him?' And right on cue the 'curse of the commentator' had another victim. Alex Sandro swung the ball in from the left and it was cushioned into the bath of Mario Mandzukic who managed to control and score a breathtaking overhead kick from just inside the box, over the goal keeper and into the net! Taking nothing away from the finish you have to question the goalkeeping at play here, but a world class goal non the less. 1-1. 

And that was how the first half ended, the literal definition of an end to end game, we had a potential classic on our hands. Now, remember when I said 'game of two halves?' Well...

Zinedine Zidane's team talk at half time must have made it's impact as his side came out all guns blazing in the second half. Unlike the first half there appeared to be a lot of space among the Old Lady's defence and it took 15 minutes for Real to retake the lead. A massively deflected effort from Casemiro, who had managed to mark Paulo Dybala out of the game up until this point, crept past Buffon and into the corner, 2-1.

Europe's most successful club just grew and grew in confidence and Juventus's fabled defence looked shook and out of place, which lead to the one man they'd of hoped stayed quiet getting in on the act once again. Again a sweeping move from back to front saw Luka Modric making a run inside of Alex Sandro before pulling the ball into the six yard box and perfectly into the path of Cristiano Ronaldo who made no mistake and dispatched the chance with customary ease. The quality in run made by Modric for this goal cannot be over looked as he spotted a gap in the defence and provided the movement which created the opportunity, latching onto another impressive ball by Dani Carvajal (who managed to outplay the three other highly rated full backs on show on the night) before playing an inch perfect ball towards the near post for Ronaldo to score. Two goals in three minutes had driven the wind out of the Italians. 3-1. 

After the third goal went in we didn't see too much in terms of chances for either side for 20 minutes, Juventus switched to a more traditional back four and managed to compete in midfield for the first time in the half, but they appeared to be running on empty. A collection of misplaced passes and half arsed runs pretty much demonstrated Juve's performance in the second half. I've already mentioned Dybala being marked out of the game up until this point and that continued, with the Argentinian looking disinterested and frustrated. Also Dybala's countryman Higuain continues his run of failing to perform in the big games. After a very impressive season coming into the final the striker failed to make any sort of impact, in a game where Juve needed an outlet Gonzalo failed to provide anything. And then we get to the one sour point of the game. A ball was played down Real's left for Cuadrado to chase but Sergio Ramos, who had been hugely impressive all night, made a perfect tackle to send the ball out for a throw in. However when the Juventus winger went to rush to the ball to take the throw in quickly Ramos dropped to the floor and proceeded to roll around acting as if Cuadrado had stamped on his ankle. The replay shows the smallest of contact between the two players, a contact so small that the camera doesn't initially pick it up, instead focusing on the Colombian Cuadrado pushing past Ramos to get the ball. The linesman who is standing inches away from the incident does nothing to help the referee who sees Ramos's play acting and sends Cuadrado off for a second bookable offence, which was followed by the Madrid captain rising to his feet instantly to gesture 'off' to his opponent. Respect to the Juventus player who leaves the pitch immediately when many would have continued to argue with the officials and the players, but the team that were trailing were now down to ten men.

Playing with a man advantage made the end to this game is easier for Madrid, and they added to their advantage in stoppage time when Marcelo broke down the left with ease and much like two of Real's previous goals, cut the ball back into the danger area for substitute Marco Asensio to finish with his left into the bottom right hand corner of the net. The reaction of the Juventus side tells the whole picture, as Asensio wheels off in celebration they collapse, exhausted and out of ideas. 4-1. 

The final whistle blew and a stark contrast can be seen between the two sides on show. For the champions, celebrations can officially begin. Cristiano Ronaldo dropped to his knees and screamed up at the heavens, in the process of winning his fourth Champions League winners medal he becomes the first player in the history of the UEFA Champions League to score in three finals. Gianluigi Buffon however appeared visibly distraught, this is probably the last opportunity for the the veteran Italian goalkeeper to win the trophy that has eluded him his entire career. The 39 year old however showed his class as he congratulated the winners one by one, a true legend and he deserves to be remembered both as a world class goalkeeper but also as a world class human being. Special mention has to go to the scorer of Madrid's second goal, Casemiro. He may not have known much about his goal but his performance from start to finish was stand out. The task of marking Dybala was one not many could handle, but the Brazilian midfielder made it look easy and provided the solid foundations needed for Madrid's win and particularly their excellent second half performance. 

Real Madrid become the first side since AC Milan in 1990 to retain the European cup and the first since the Champions League era began, and Zinedine Zidane continues to make management look as easy as he made football look, winning his second Champions League in his second year as Real Madrid manager. Easy. The decision to start Isco over Garath Bale may have appeared obvious, with the Spanish play maker in form and Bale carrying a calf injury coming into the preporations for the final. But with the reported pressure from the board and the draw of starting Bale in his home country looming over Zidane's head he managed to pull through and make a big statement in the process. A statement that was justified as Isco was again, world class and Bale off the bench had the legs to cause the opposition defence nightmares. Allegri's management all season has been nothing short of perfect but it appeared to be just one game and one team too far for his side. The switch in system midway through the second half came way too late, when it was obvious Real were dominating far too easily in midfield the change was needed and it ultimately cost them. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I'm certain Juventus will come back next season just as strong... before losing in the final again for what will then be the 8th time.

As Sergio Ramos lifted the famous trophy into the Welsh night sky it became even clearer that this Real Madrid side, although not as pleasing on the eye as the 2011 Barcelona or the 1970 Brazilian side or simply as good as the 1950's Real Madrid side which won 5 out of the first 5 European cups. This group of players, this team is one of the best we have seen in quite some time and you have the wonder what is next? We'll have to wait and find out, but as of this moment in time no side have ever won the Champions League three times in a row, who where the first side to ever be crowned European champions three times in a row? Los Blancos.