World NewsRonaldo Wage Revolt Warning |
REAL Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder admits there could be problems in the Bernabeu dressing room if Cristiano Ronaldo joins the club on a salary much greater than those of his new team-mates.
The Portuguese star has been tracked by Real all summer, although Manchester United are adamant they are not prepared to sell the man whose goals helped them to Barclays Premier League and Champions League glory last season.It would take a world record transfer fee and probably wages to match to prise Ronaldo away from United, and Dutch ace Sneijder warned Real's bosses to bear in mind the existing squad if and when they strike a deal.
"It would be bad for the dressing room if he gets a much higher salary than the rest of the squad," the former Ajax player said.
"It's not important to me, but I know that other team-mates would not like that at all. Here we have footballers like him, for example (Arjen) Robben or Robinho.
"It's obvious that I want to play with Cristiano but you also have to maintain the equilibrium in the dressing room."
While claiming he would love to link up with Ronaldo, Sneijder believes Madrid do not need the winger, insisting they already have a player who is more than his match - Robinho.
"For me, this Madrid side do not need new signings," said Sneijder.
"In the last few matches last year we were very solid and the team has grown a lot.
"This squad is strong enough and this season we are going to do more.
"It's also obvious that if you bring in a player of a lot of quality it can be better for the team. In that case the only one thing I think we need is to sign a striker."
Robinho has been linked with a move to Chelsea after his agent revealed he was an admirer of their new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, but Sneijder hopes the Brazil international stays put.
"I hope Robinho stays at Madrid because I think he is equal to Cristiano Ronaldo," said the Dutchman.
"People have criticised Robinho because he hasn't performed in the big matches, but I saw important matches for Manchester United and Cristiano didn't perform either.
"It's not a criticism. I just want to point out that a player can't be at the same level all season."
While the 24-year-old still insists, as he did a month ago, that the Manchester United ace would be a great addition to the Madrid side, he believes the Spanish champions should be cautious not to upset the players already at the Bernabeu.
"I don't want to say much (about Ronaldo) because every day different news emerges," added Sneijder. "Cristiano is a great player, he has a lot of quality and if he comes to Madrid he would be welcomed by everyone.
"But at the moment no-one can say anything about him because talking well about him also shows a slight lack of respect to the players that are here and this Real Madrid has a lot of people of quality."
Copyright (c) 2008 Press Association
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