Can Ferguson weather loss of winger Ronaldo?

IT came down to top-class football or sunnier climes. Cristiano Ronaldo's chosen the latter, and who can blame him? I'm not disparaging either Real Madrid or the Spanish league, but Old Trafford is still the place to be if you want to keep on winning things. But it rains a lot in Manchester, doesn't it? You don't really get the continental feel in Wilmslow, despite the place thinking it's got all the bijou cafe bars it needs.

The simple fact is that the boy from Madeira was never happy on these shores and now he's won everything he needed to at United and made more money than he could ever spend.

Why not rock the boat and choose the Iberian lifestyle that was always close to his heart over a few more league cup medals? Make no mistake, Real are light years off being European Cup winners, despite their massive outlay.

No matter how many top-class attackers they have, a hard-working team like Liverpool will invariably beat them.

Kaka's not going to track back and you can't leave all that to failed Premiership player Lassanna Diarra. If Real have more cash to splash (and the rumour mill says they've got a warchest of pounds 250m) then Javier Mascherano should be their next port of call, before a revamp of the defence.

And can former Villarreal boss Mauricio Pellegrino really control all these massive personalities or is he a yes man for new chairman Florentino Perez? He's certainly no Sir Alex Ferguson.

Even the guy who is - Sir Alex Ferguson - said he wouldn't sell Real Madrid a virus, never mind United's prize asset.

But the wily old boss knows you can't make someone stay who doesn't want to, and the small matter of a world record pounds 80m transfer fee will soften any blow.

Now comes the difficult job of replacing him, even with all that cash in his hip pocket.

Top of the list must be Franck Ribery, who wonderful player as he is, will never weigh in with as many goals as Ronaldo.

And what Ronaldo was also great at was striking fear into mid-range clubs. Some say he went off the boil this season, but he still managed to end up as second top scorer in the Premiership, despite missing the start of the season through injury.

His sheer presence on the pitch is enough to unsettle the likes of Portsmouth, who roll over as soon as they see his coloured boots.

Signing the likes of Antonio Valencia certainly isn't going to have the same effect on the cannon fodder.

Never mind his diving, theatrics and winking, Ronaldo was a great player and the Premier League was lucky to have him.

You'd have thought that the days of our top stars leaving for the continent were over, especially with the amounts of cash swilling around England.

In fact you'd expect them all to be flocking over here - but you can't legislate for the weather.

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Real Madrid-bound Cristiano Ronaldo