Not a Gooner!

By Chris O'Brien
February 1 2008

ManUtdWeb has already been opposed to the idea of link-up agreements in football. However, it's been revealed that United's deal with Sporting Lisbon could well have helped the Red Devils secure one of the best pieces of business in the club's history. Cristiano Ronaldo was apparently on the verge of joining rivals Arsenal before our partnership with the Portuguese club changed things!

The terms behind such agreements are always varied but tend to consist of pact with regard to signing players. The bigger club, for example, will have the first refusal to sign any players that the smaller club are willing to sell on. In return, the smaller club often get to host a friendly game with their partner club, often get additional financial incentives and get the option to loan younger players from the bigger club as part of the deal.

The club went through a phase where it was obsessed with such agreements; hooking up with clubs from all parts of the world. United agreed deals with the likes of Belgian club Antwerp, Walsall, Fluminense, Connah's Quay and more. For United, of course, the benefits were obvious as it gave the club plenty of options when looking to sign players for the future and it also gave them avenues to send younger players out on loan and pick up valuable experience.

For football in general, however, there are clear disadvantages. Link-up agreements create a rigid hierarchy in football where the bigger clubs can easily poach budding talent from smaller clubs. It keeps the big clubs big and the small clubs small; offering them financially-motivated concessions in the process. It also increases the impact that business and money have in influencing the beautiful game. In fairness, David Gill later questioned the benefits to the link-up programme and reportedly ended some if not all of the deals the club were involved in.

However, it has emerged that one of United's past link-up agreements may have yielded one of the most beneficial transfers in the club's long and illustrious history. Arsene Wenger has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo was "very close" to signing for Arsenal before United's contacts with Sporting Lisbon sealed a move to Old Trafford instead.

Ronaldo is fast establishing himself as one of the greatest players in United's history. His brace against Portsmouth on Wednesday took his tally for the season to an astonishing 27 goals.