Sport | Football
Real Madrid boss Schuster still hankering after Ronaldo
Tug of war between United and Spanish team over Portuguese winger seems set to continue well into season.
- By Duane Fonseca, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:35 August 3, 2008
Dubai: Real boss Bernd Schuster says his club is interested in acquiring the services of Portuguese ace Cristiano Ronaldo because every club in the world "desires to have a great player like him."
The two-way tug of war between Ronaldo's current club Manchester United and Real Madrid has dragged on for over two months now, with the winger wonder revealing his desire to leave the confines of Old Trafford and move to the Spanish capital. United aren't ready to sell the youngster and the clubs still haven't found a solution to end the stalemate.
Real have made their intentions clear long ago and were hoping to sign Ronaldo, who helped United to a Champions League and Premiership double last season. And minutes after his side's 2-1 victory over Hamburg in their first Emirates Cup game, Schuster said: "Of course every coach would want to sign someone like him; every club in the world desires to have a great player like him playing for them.
Similar objectives
"Every coach has a certain set of objectives and that is to win trophies, and he could become a very important player in helping Real Madrid achieve its objectives. But I'm not the person who can say anything on this subject because the club is trying hard to find a solution to the matter and we want to see what will happen in the future."
While the Ronaldo saga lumbers on, Real are expected to complete the signing of Hamburg's industrious Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart in London. Hamburg were part of the four-team Emirates Cup tournament, but Schuster refused to comment on whether the signing had already been completed.
Schuster is happy with the pre-season progress made by his side and praised the Emirates Cup for providing top-class tournament action. "I think this competition is a good opportunity for young players to come out to England because not all clubs get a chance to play at this level ahead of their domestic and international seasons," he added.
Share this article
Popular in Sport
-
Sport
A round with Pacquiao
In the ring with Manny Pacquiao to see what makes this boxer tick
Sport Editor's choice
-
'We'll play like world champions'
Afridi confident Pakistan can win against New Zealand in Twenty20 matches
-
Underdog Cotto exudes confidence
Puerto Rican ready for speedy Pacquiao in Saturday's welterweight bout
-
Excitement building ahead of qualifier
There is nothing bigger than this, team's captain Nelsen says ahead of Saturday's sellout playoff against Bahrain
