Better now than later, Ron

SO it turns out Fergie would ell Madrid a virus after all.Farewell, then, Cristiano: forgive us if we don’t wish you all the best.

Mind you, Ronaldo’s certainly done us one last decent favour; by jumping ship now, just nine days after the inauguration of Real’s new president, he has at least spared us another tedious summer of will-he-won’t-he speculation. United’s management now know right from the outset of the close season they need to replace him, and precisely how much cash they’ll be getting. After all, this could have dragged on until after the start of the new season, with all the chaos that would have entailed for our forward-planning.

Of course, some would allege that United have, cynically, known full well that this day was coming for several months now, of which more later. But the main feeling is relief, weirdly enough. All the suspicions have been confirmed, all the uncertainties removed, all the conflicted feelings resolved.