Sir Bobby Charlton calls Cristiano Ronaldo fee 'vulgar'
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Sir Bobby Charlton calls Cristiano Ronaldo fee 'vulgar'
• Transfer 'a good deal and a fair deal' for Manchester United
• 'Crazy' money move prompted soul-searching at Old Trafford
Sir Bobby Charlton holds up a camera during a Manchester United promotional event in Beijing.
The Manchester United director Sir Bobby Charlton has described Real Madrid's transfer payment for Cristiano Ronaldo as "vulgar" but says there is no ill feeling towards the player for leaving.
Charlton said Sir Alex Ferguson can be trusted to use the £80m transfer fee to recruit top-notch players, although acknowledging the departure of the club's best player had prompted some "soul- searching" at Old Trafford.
The two clubs expect to complete the world-record transfer before the end of the month, a year after United successfully fended off an earlier bid by Madrid for the Portugal winger.
"Ronaldo leaves us because as a young boy he always dreamt about playing for Real Madrid, so if he leaves us it is with our blessing," said Charlton, who was in Beijing today on club business. "We are very grateful that he has scored goals, that he has played well, that he's contributed to the fame of Manchester United."
Charlton said the transfer was "a good deal and a fair deal" for Manchester United, who now have considerable resources to acquire new attacking talent to play alongside the likes of Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and the veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
"It is an enormous amount of money and it sometimes [seems] a little bit vulgar," Charlton said. "But nevertheless that is business, I am afraid. We have responsibilities as a company.
"It's a lot of money. It seems crazy really, but the more money the players cost, the more the television companies appear to be able to contribute that little bit more too.
"It is a little bit of soul-searching. You wonder if you made the right decision. We shall never know until the season starts."
Charlton expects Ferguson to continue making the sort of bold transfers that have led United to 11 out of 17 Premier League titles. It was the sale of David Beckham, also to Real Madrid, that enabled the Ronaldo purchase in 2003.
"He is a great judge of the player. Alex Ferguson is very brave, he's very brave with his decisions, he's very decisive with his decisions, and that is why he's been a major success," Charlton said.
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Yes it does seem a wee bit too much don't you think? But what the heck, I'm a man utd fan
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lucky we sell him away liao