by Simon Harding

Created on: June 20, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

The key thing to remember on this issue is despite everyone else having their say, it is Cristiano Ronaldo who should and ultimately will make the decision on where his playing future lies. For the record and for what it is worth my own personal opinion is that Cristiano Ronaldo should for next season and possibly beyond remain with Manchester United.

In the recently finished 2007/2008 season while playing for Manchester United Cristiano Ronaldo had a phenomenal season, winning the Premier League title, winning the Champions League, being named once again player of the year and for a player who is not an out and out striker scoring an almost unimaginable 42 goals. Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtly a player at the peak of his performance, he is also a player who has made no secret of his desire to play in Spain one day, specifically for Real Madrid. Now maybe Cristiano Ronaldo believes that after the great season he has just had that he will never again have as good or better a season whilst at Manchester United, and that now is the right time for him to cash in his chips and join Real Madrid, just in case he is not as successful next season. For a young player like Cristiano Ronaldo to be plagued by these doubts is understandable, but it is inconceivable that Real Madrid will lose interest in Cristiano Ronaldo, however Ronaldo performs next season he will not become a bad player overnight. While one sniff of interest in Ronaldo from Real Madrid's eternal rivals Barcelona, would once again pique Real Madrid's interest in the Portugese maestro.

The reason that Cristiano Ronaldo should stay with Manchester United is that when Ronaldo joined Manchester United he undoubtly had the raw playing talent, be it with a penchant for shownmanship and some might say an unhealthy desire to fall over whenever there was a free kick to be won. Under the tutelage of manager Alex Ferguson and his assistant Carlos Queiroz, Ronaldo's fellow Portugese, with guidance from the club's senior professionals Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, and ably assisted on the pitch by the hard working Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo has grown into a superstar. Let us not forget that Cristiano Ronaldo at 23 years old is still only young, has much to learn and still much maturity to gain. Manchester United rather than Real Madrid would be the better environment in which to continue his development. As well as already knowing what Manchester United are all about Cristiano Ronaldo

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