No tears for Cristiano Ronaldo

The world's greatest player is gone, but there are few tears being shed. Narcissistic, petulant, attention-seeking, selfish, a baby, a diver, a faker, a mummy's boy - these are the prevalent comments this morning after Manchester United agreed a world record offer of £80m from Real Madrid for their Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

As Paul Hayward of the Guardian puts it, the only prize not claimed by Ronaldo during his six years in England was the adoration of the wider public, who loved his skills but not his ways.

No one is denying those skills: the cut-back inside from the wing, the dipping free kick obtained by striking the valve of the ball and, of course, the step-over: these looked like mere tricks when he brought them to Manchester. But, coupled with his extraordinary pace, they turned out to be genuine skills.

His 42-goal season in 2007-08 will go down as one of the greatest individual performances in the history of English football.

But will he be missed in the way that other iconic Manchester United players have been missed - George Best, Eric Cantona, David Beckham even? If Sir Alex Ferguson's team can keep winning without him - and he now has £80m to blow on new talent - then the answer is probably No.

Andy Mitten, editor of the club's fanzine, United We Stand, told the Times: "Clearly he is an outstanding player but there will not be protesters on the streets of Manchester over this. We put absolute faith in Sir Alex Ferguson. I would much rather have him in charge than Ronaldo in the team."

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Sam Wallace, the Independent: "Ronaldo has been the great player of the last four years in English football because he does the one thing that everyone turns up at a football ground to see: a player who takes on opponents and beats them with skill and pace. A prat ­ yes, but what a footballer. What an innovator."

Simon Barnes, the Times: "At first he was a joke, a nobody, a butterfly, proof that Fergie had really lost it this time... But he developed and carried on developing. He was not content to decorate an occasion, he wanted to seize big occasions and make them his own... But as the talent grew, so the flaws in it became more clear."

Paul Hayward, the Guardian: "United's supporters will be aggrieved to see Ronaldo go. Unlike Eric Cantona, though, he will not depart across a carpet of bouquets... English football is institutionally mendacious but there remains a deep antipathy to anti-Corinthian conduct on the pitch: specifically, diving and feigning injury, which are seen as violations of the game's old warrior code."

Susannah Frankel, the Independent: "Despite ­ - or even because of ­ the overload of Hawaiian Tropic, the stonewash denim worn long before it came back into fashion and without a trace of irony, and the crucifix that would dwarf the average medallion - he still succeeds in setting hearts ­ male and female ­ aflutter like no other. Macho doesn't cover it."

David Thomas, Daily Mail: "In many ways, glory-hunting, moneymaking United were the right team for Cristiano Ronaldo. But for a boy brought up in the sun and warmth of Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, cold, wet, grey Manchester would always be the wrong city."

Anonymous Man Utd fan, the Times: "You never knew what he was going to do next. The problem was, his team-mates often did not know either." ·