Rumours abound that Cristiano Ronaldo will be leaving Real Madrid this summer. And as with the biggest of rumours, offshoots have grown – some linking him with a return to his former club Manchester United, others to big-spending PSG, and some suggesting he will follow his current manager Jose Mourinho when he is inevitably unveiled as Chelsea’s new boss.
But the last of those possible destinations is surely impossible, certainly if Mourinho does return to the seat he was so swiftly ushered from in 2007.
The most recent reports linking Ronaldo to Stamford Bridge were born from quotes by former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon.
“There are not many teams that could afford to pay him what he deserves and who can pay what Real Madrid are asking for,” Calderon said. “There are three clubs – Manchester City, PSG and Chelsea.”
And so a headline was born, suggesting Cristiano could return to England in blue rather than red.
You sense his history with United is too strong for him to consider another English club. But there could be an even bigger reason why he would never pick Stamford Bridge as his new home – and that is the man he has been touted in some quarters as wishing to follow.
You sense that Jose Mourinho will not be bringing Ronaldo or any other Real Madrid player with him this summer. Not after the year they have had under the provocative Portuguese.
As his tenure at the Bernabeu reaches its feisty conclusion, one thing is clear – his players don’t like him very much, and in some cases he returns the favour.
Previous talk was of him having only three allies in the dressing room, three players who still had time for their manager; those men were Michael Essien (on loan from Chelsea), Luka Modric (desperate for game time) and Diego Lopez (grateful for a starting birth following the manager’s falling-out with first choice ‘keeper Iker Casillas).
Mourinho has always managed a certain way, his way, and yet on this occasion he is leaving a fractured dressing room that any incoming manager must quickly repair.
In light of such issues, why would Ronaldo follow someone who has caused such public rifts at one club to another? And in turn – although this is a question for another article – why would Chelsea welcome back a man whose time in Spain has been largely disappointing? A man whose preferred method of management in recent times has been to ostracise key players and ignore the fall-out?
So no, Ronaldo is not heading to Chelsea this summer. Those headlines can be ignored. But it will be interesting to see who Mourinho can attract when he eventually arrives. One thing is for sure, they will have to play by his rules.
Who would you rather have at Stamford Bridge: Mourinho or Ronaldo? And do you think the "special one" is still the best man for the job?
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