Ronaldo, Berbatov, Robinho: Birds Of A Feather
Now that the summer transfer window has closed, Goal.com's Alan Dawson analyses the three biggest transfer stories that have dominated the headlines...


Cristiano Ronaldo, Robinho, and Dimitar Berbatov tallied up so many column inches this summer they would have made even the most extroverted of WAGs blush. Since not only the opening of the window, but when the 2007/08 season was drawing to a close, speculation was rife linking Ronaldo with Real Madrid; Robinho with Chelsea; and Dimitar Berbatov with Manchester United. Ronaldo was to end up staying at Old Trafford but the lion-share of twists and turns seemed to be reserved for deadline day, as an Arab consortium took over Manchester City and bid for Berbatov meaning United had to up their fee for the sulky striker. While Mark Hughes took the afternoon off playing a round of golf, deal brokers were at large tabling £32.5million for Real's samba star Robinho and, for the first time in Chelsea's history under a Russian financier, Roman Abramovich was outbid.What do these three transfer deals have in common? For starters they are all centred around the same English city but, more significantly, it can be argued that player power is more prevalent in the modern game than it ever was before...Manchester - The AttractionWhether he was misunderstood, misquoted, or it was a general misnomer, Nemanja Vidic was recently reported to have summarised Manchester in a slight mal à propos: "The climate here is something special... You get only a brief glimpse of sunlight before it's all cloudy again. The winters are mild, but in summer the temperatures seldom go higher than 20C."He added: "Manchester's main attraction is considered to be the timetable at the railway station, where trains leave for other, less rainy cities."To think that Vidic would insult the city that houses the fans that pay to see his club is a tad absurd, and the Serbian stopper was quick to claim the comments were unfounded and should never have been attributed to him. Though a question just before the close of the window was asked: 'why would foreigners move to Manchester?' Or, more specifically, 'why choose Spain over England?' Perhaps a rhetoric, perhaps not. But if you were Cristiano Ronaldo would you rather take a brisk walk around Sol in Madrid in the late evening enjoying temperatures not often seen in even an English summer, or people-watch in Fallowfields in Manchester as inebriated students stumble out of Robinski's while preparing their stomachs for a kofte kebab? Maybe that is an unfair analogy. Of course, Manchester has it's pulling power. Only three weeks ago did Stretford (just a few miles from Old Trafford) witness some strange lights in the night-sky that had the world of ufology buzzing. One witness told Manchester Evening News: "They looked as if they were on fire, really bright orange orbs. We spotted eight or nine go over my house between 10 and 11pm." Perhaps alien visitors too had heard that the local double-winning team played football that was from another planet. The capital of the north is also home to the 'Madchester' scene, with bands such as the Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays, the Charlatans, going on to influence britpop bands like Oasis - all hailing from Mancunia. Then you have fine champagne-stained celebrity haunts like the infamous Living Room or 235 Casino as prime spots for a harmless bit of decadence, and this is without even mentioning the little thing of playing in front of 76,000 fans at Old Trafford for a club with a history as interesting as the annals of Mamuciam. The City of Manchester Stadium can entertain crowds of just under 48,000 and has a trophy cabinet not as strong as their local rivals, but they now boast an ownership supposedly 'ten times' wealthier than the sponsor at Stamford Bridge.Cristiano RonaldoThe story that had everyone clicking, and then complaining... was there nothing going on in the world of football apart from a tiresome saga between two of the most powerful football franchises in the history of the game? At the time it certainly appeared not. The brazen-faced courtship of one of football's hottest properties gained momentum when Spanish journal Marca decorated it's front cover with a Ronaldo that would be joining Los Meringues that summer - the timing of running the cover epitomised a peccant editorial genius: May 21st 2008 - the Champions League final. Later that month the Red Devils threatened Real with a Fifa complaint with Sir Alex Ferguson clamouring: "They think that they can ride roughshod over everyone," little did the United boss know that his club would employ the same impudent tactic later that summer.At the beginning of June, and ahead of Portugal's Euro 2008 exploits, the in-demand wing-wizard was reported to have declared his intentions of joining the La Liga champions. Real were thought to have prepared a transfer fee that was in excess of £70million but Sir Alex Ferguson remained adamant that the boy he coached from 17 would not be leaving.Fifa president Sepp Blatter then decided to wade into the transfer tug-of-war and yapped on about modern footballers being treated like slaves - being forced to stay at a club they no longer wished to play for. CR7 then agreed with the notion.After his nation crashed out of the summer's continental competition, and he returned to Old Trafford for tête-à-tête talks, the future of the now-crowned Uefa Forward of the Year eventuall resolved itself."I was the one who publicly expressed my desire to go to Real Madrid. I ended up being, even involuntarily, responsible for the poor relationship between the two clubs," Cristiano admitted in a Portuguese publication. He tried to force the transfer, but failed as United held firm, albeit only temporarily as Real will no doubt advance for the free-scoring 23-year old in precisely ten months time, when the summer transfer window re-opens.Robinho And Dimitar BerbatovTwo footballers whom have each moved to two club’s that share a local rivalry predating their managers’ birth. Two separate transfers, but in fairly similar scenarios as both showed acts of petulance and unprofessionalism.The formerRobinho had long been expected to be photographed in a Chelsea shirt by now. It was even rumoured that one week ago the Chelsea shops had been printing Blues shirts with the Brazilian's name on the back. Chelsea chief Peter Kenyon had long expressed his admiration for Robinho, stating that he would bring an 'extra dimension' to the west London club's attack.In mid-August Peter Kenyon flew to Madrid to try and flash out a deal, but Chelsea's £19.7million fee fell considerably lower than Real's valuation of the player.The longer the deal went on for without reaching any notable conclusion, relations between the two clubs soured. Madrid condemned the very public pursuit of their Brazilian forcing Chelsea to accuse the Spanish Capital club of hypocrisy due to their flirtations over Cristiano Ronaldo and the manner in which they bought Arjen Robben the season prior. Real then issued a statement that read: "We deplore the way Chelsea's directors have acted despite knowing perfectly well the decision not to sell the player - making statements and even going so far as to sell shirts with the player's name on through their official website."Madrid soon realised they would have to sell the player. Ramon Calderon recently said: "Robinho has a morale problem more extensive than we first thought... When he talked about his situation, he cried and demanded to leave Spain.""His departure from Madrid is not only due to playing motivation, there is something else, which is beyond my reasoning. The important thing is that the squad is not seriously affected by a player who would only bring them down."Real's vehemence in dealing with Chelsea took a fortunate twist when Manchester City entered the bidding with a last-minute deal of £32.5million due to heavy-backing from a Dr. Sulaiman Al Fahim Arab consortium. Calderon's decision to sell to City, as opposed to Chelsea, can be born from three ideals: to spite the player for attempting to broker his own move - not allowing him to join Chelsea; to spite the club for their open dalliance with their contracted player; or because of competitive rivalry - the Stamford Bridge side are one of their nearest Champions League adversaries whereas City are playing Uefa Cup football this year, and may not press for a top four position for a year, possibly two. The latterNumerous Tottenham Hotspur players, namely Jonathan Woodgate, openly criticised Dimitar Berbatov for his poor attitude toward training, the club, and his desire to play for no-one other than Manchester United this season. Juande Ramos was forced to drop the player from his squad before the match against Sunderland, blaming Berbatov's frame of mind: "I have not selected him as I do not think that he was focused enough and I did not feel that he would be good for the dressing room and the team effort.""It doesn't matter how good a player is, if he is not in the right frame of mind, then he will not perform well. The only thing I concern myself with is picking the best team to try and win the game."Both Woodgate's admission that the Tottenham team were far from happy with Dimitar's antics, together with Ramos' decision to stop fielding the pouty grump, are testament to the Bulgarian's unprofessionalism.Manchester United however, remained relentless in the chase for the heir to Van Nistelrooy, or perhaps more fittingly, Cantona's throne. They entered the bidding over a month ago, with an opening bid believed to be £25million, but it was rebuffed. The White Hart Lane outfit threatened to keep Berbatov though, and let him rot in the reserves such was their refusal to sell to United, and the transfer was left to the very last minute until eventually it was signed - much to the annoyance and red-anger of Spurs chief Daniel Levy.Hours before, in a similar fashion to how City gazumped Chelsea's transfer of Robinho, the Citizens entered a bidding war that Tottenham had been craving for all summer. A fee expected to smash the British record was accepted by Tottenham and they sent the player up to Manchester to talk to City - Mark Hughes was off the golf course and expecting to have a chat, but they never did... instead Berbatov headed straight to Old Trafford.United's conduct during this transfer has been called into question. They did not have the express permission of Tottenham to talk to the player, but they went ahead anyway. The loan signing of Fraizer Campbell, plus the expected £30million +, was proffered to Levy in an attempt to sweeten the deal, which was grudgingly accepted and Spurs claim they won't take the matter to the FA. ConclusionIf there is one sentiment to take away from the dealings this summer, it is that player power is increasing and the balance is shifting away from the club. Should Ronaldo have stayed on holiday, he may have been continually swayed by Madrid chiefs to force the issue and join Real. The meeting with Sir Alex was pivotal in his decision to stay. Despite this, by the end of next season, Cristiano will have been at United for six years and Real will be keen for another transfer assault. Real did not want to sell Robinho, but his lachrymatory manner led Real to believe his form for them would never be the same again. Madrid retained a degree of puissance though as they denied a move to his favoured Chelsea, and accepted the City fee. The fact that Robinho forced his exit proves the power struggle was there and had City not come in, then the shirts already sold at the Bridge would never have been sold in vein.Dimitar Berbatov craved a move to United. He got it. Perhaps in suspicious circumstances considering Hotspur never accepted a bid from the League champions but they had from their local rivals City. Berbatov is now an official Red Devil and this shows he had the power, despite Tottenham's best efforts to maintain their grip on it, but by the time Berbatov left London and was driving up the M1 it was out of their hands.