Perez: Ronaldo can be our new Beckham
Cristiano Ronaldo said Sir Alex Ferguson got the tactics wrong against Barcelona
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Sunday, 31, May 2009 03:50
Cristiano Ronaldo can become the new David Beckham at Real Madrid, the club's presidential candidate Florentino Perez has declared.
Perez, the favourite to become president of the Spanish giants, says the club will chase the Manchester United winger again this summer.
Madrid angered United last year by continually expressing their desire to sign Ronaldo, with the Premier League champions insisting he was not for sale.
But the 24-year-old's future is again in doubt after United's defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League final. Ronaldo criticised Sir Alex Ferguson for his tactics in the 2-0 defeat in Rome.
And Perez has declared that Ronaldo is a key part in Madrid's bid to topple arch rivals Barcelona both on and off the field.
"There are specific footballers who can turn out to be very profitable, because of the commercial benefits they bring the club," Perez said.
"For instance, we once brought in €15m for playing two matches in Japan. That would not happen in the current climate but they did it then because we had [Luis] Figo, [Zinedine] Zidane, Ronaldo and [David] Beckham.
"If Cristiano Ronaldo comes in, we would have a Nike-endorsed player putting on an adidas shirt every week.
"In the previous time, we established a model which allowed us to pay off our debts and raise our income, and we did it by investing in great players. They brought money in, the model worked."
Perez was president when Madrid bought David Beckham from United in 2003.