Charlton: Ronaldo deal is crazy money

18 June 2009 13:29
Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton has spoken out against the "vulgar" deal which looks set to take Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid from Old Trafford. The Portugal winger is poised to complete a move to the Bernabeu after United accepted a world-record offer of £80million from the Spanish outfit earlier this month. The deal eclipses the £59million Madrid president Florentino Perez recently paid to land Brazil star Kaka from AC Milan, and Charlton concedes the distorted prices in the transfer market this summer are difficult to comprehend. Speaking at a news conference in China where United signed a multi-million pound partnership deal with Chinese digital technology firm aigo, Charlton said: "It's a lot of money, it's crazy really. If you want to be in the race, you have to pay the price. It seems sometimes a little bit vulgar. "But, nevertheless, that is business, I'm afraid. We have responsibilities to our company and to all the fans that support Manchester United, and it was decided that Ronaldo could go. "But it's a little bit soul-searching, you never know if you've made the right decision until the start of the season."

Source: Eurosport