There was another twist in the Ronaldo situation today as reports announced that the United man was due to undergo an operation on an ankle injury in Portugal [source].
United officials reportedly met with the player and the Portuguese national team medical staff to discuss an injury Ronaldo apparently carried throughout Euro 2008. Portugal’s team doctor later revealed that the player would go under the knife in “two to three days” but, confusingly, United vehemently contradicted that on their official site but stating that no decision has been made on the injury [source].
According to United “further specialist advice is being sort and an announcement will be made on any action in due course.”
Ronaldo meanwhile, seems pretty certain that he will undergo the operation.
“I can only say that (I) will spend the period of my recovery in my house in Sintra”, remarked the winger.
Should he require the operation Ronaldo is expected to miss United’s entire pre-season although it is hoped that he would be available for the opening game of the season against Newcastle on August 16.
On the face of it this new twist certainly looks rather suspect. The player appears to be resigned to having the operation and spending his summer resting in Portugal, an idea scenario for a player looking to escape the spotlight back in Manchester while speculation over his future and the attentions of Real Madrid still rumble on.
United meanwhile appear to be against the idea and will obviously want to get the player back in Manchester as soon as possible. When you consider that communication between Alex Ferguson and Ronaldo appear to have broken down, this latest declaration by Ronaldo would certainly seem to support stories that suggest that Ronaldo has no intention of opening up those lines of communication and returning Manchester anytime soon.
All this continued uncertainty is bad news for fantasy football. Ronaldo’s situation is a major problem for the various fanatsy football games since his valuation will be key to the pricing of the entire player list. There’s every chance that player values will have to increase across the board to accommodate Ronaldo’s valuation this season and some games may even be contemplating increasing the budget handed to fantasy managers. If the United man moves on after player lists are released, those games risk being unbalanced.
It’s no better for us fantasy managers. Even if Ronaldo does remain at United, it looks as though he’ll be a doubt for the season opener which will mean that we’ll need to decide on risking a half-fit, stroppy Ronaldo in our initial squad or face the prospect of carrying out major surgery a fortnight into the season should he settle back in at Old Trafford.
We all need a conclusion and fast.