Although Mark Hughes has stated that he has to be the one who decided which players are brought in at Eastlands, that hasn’t stopped members of the Abu Dhabi United group revealing some of the world-class talents that they would like to see wearing a Manchester City shirt. This includes someone plying their trade down the road at Old Trafford, although United have questioned as to whether there is credible interest in their most prized asset.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the Red Devils’ chief executive doesn’t know what to make of Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim’s proclamation that they’d like to sign Cristiano Ronaldo for £135 million. Quite where they have this figure from is one thing, with nowhere near this amount ever being spent on a footballer before. However, would the Premier League champions consider it if it was a serious bid?
“It was an interesting comment, I think it’s a supporters-type comment,” said Gill.
“He [Al Fahim] mentioned [Fernando] Torres and [Cesc] Fabregas in the same article so I think we will treat that with a pinch of salt.
“Ultimately we would discuss any offer with Sir Alex [Ferguson] and the owners, as that sort of money is very large for one person,” he said.
“I have never met the gentleman [Al Fahim] so I can’t believe he is serious at those sorts of levels. But that is a fantastic amount of money and would turn the industry upside down.
“However, we are not in the market to sell our best players.”
Indeed, while you can understand why Ronaldo might want to join Real Madrid, fulfilling a supposed lifelong dream, it’s harder to make a case for him moving to City and remaining in Manchester. Many have suggested that Al Fahim is making mischief rather than stating a serious intent to try and sign the Portuguese superstar, do you think it’s pie in the sky?