Ronaldo is staying, for now....

After months of gossip and endless speculation Cristiano Ronaldo has finally told the world that he is staying at Manchester United. Ronaldo revealed all in an interview with Portuguese Journalist Bruno Prata, sharing more information than most people would have imagined. This was a brave move by Ronaldo, but ultimately a good one. Ronaldo came across well in his interview, he was honest, admitted he had made mistakes and surprisingly, appeared more humble than I ever imagined him to be.

However, it is inevitable that Ronaldo will leave Manchester United for Spain at some point in his career. It was inevitable before this summer, in fact it was on the cards ever since he joined United in 2003. "People have to understand one thing: at the age of 18 I arrived at a dream club like Manchester United. It was a dream come true. But, even at that moment, I was thinking about playing in England for some years and then going to play in Spain. Even at that time I was thinking that way" revealed an honest Ronaldo. This is totally understandable as Ronaldo is a Southern European, he will want to go back to a climate and culture that is similar to his own and at the same time be closer to his family. Ronaldo will also want to experience a different footballing culture and play for another big club and nobody should begrudge him this, it's a perfectly acceptable wish.

But, what I do not understand, is the timing of this. Manchester United are reigning Premiership and European champions and they are in a position to kick on and dominate in the next few years. Why would Ronaldo not want to be part of this? "After we'd won the Champions League, I felt that in five years I had helped win everything there was to win. We'd won the Premier League twice and I'd won a host of individual awards, including the best goalscorer in the Premier League, Champions League and in Europe. So I felt that maybe I needed a new challenge. I never hid the fact that I wanted to play in Spain, at Real Madrid in particular, and I thought this could be the right moment" said Ronaldo. But after tasting all of that success, surely a winner like Ronaldo will want even more. That's what was so surprising about this, why would Ronaldo want to join a club that has not progressed beyond the last-16 of the Champions League in the last four years? At the moment, in terms of ambition, a move to Madrid would be bad for Ronaldo, unless he secretly harbours huge aspirations of Uefa Cup success.

By staying at Manchester United Ronaldo has made the right decision and can look forward to more success in England and in Europe. Ronaldo is only 23 and has plenty of time to fulfil his ambition of playing for Real Madrid. If he stays in Manchester for a couple more years, helps United to more success then nobody could begrudge him his wishes. He can leave England with his head held high and with Manchester United's blessing, something that would not be possible now.

To read the interview in full click on the link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/aug/07/manchesterunited.ronaldo1