by Joe Walton

On March 9, Michael Jackson was in London announcing that he would be playing 50 gigs in London. The assembled crowd of morons screamed as he told them the news that they already knew. Last night, Cristiano Ronaldo was 'unveiled' as a Real Madrid player in front of a near-capacity Bernabeu. At one point crazed fans ran towards their new hero of 1 hour prompting Ronaldo to be hurried out of the ground by Police accompanied by an angelic sound track.

One can draw comparisons between the two. They are both undoubtedly global stars with a truly world-wide fan base, they are both self-styled fashion icons, they have both been linked with some of the world's most glamourous women and, if you believe the reports of Jackson's autopsy, they are both hairless from the neck down. But there is one key difference. Ronaldo is one of the best practitioners of a team sport, whereas Michael Jackson was a solo star.

If a record label was to sign up the biggest musicians in the world it would make them the best record label in the world. This isn't true of football clubs. A club with the biggest names in football does not necessarily make them the best team. Although the attendance at the Bernabeu yesterday was boosted because school is out for summer holidays in Spain, the fact that it was world news needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. As good a player and as marketable as Ronaldo is, he still has to fit into a team. Teams that win things are good at football, not at events organising.

By Michael Sinnerton

41 goals and 61 goals. That's the total number of goals contributed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez to Manchester United over the last two seasons. It's not the newest of debates, but how the hell do you replace that? Benzema and Ribery are all very well but goal tallys of 23 and 14 respectively, whilst more than respectable, are perhaps not enough to convince fans and pundits just yet. Given that their 37 (and 50) goals match neither seasons tally from Ronaldo and Tevez, this despite being up against supposedly weaker defences in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 (this argument of course doesn't take into the account how much better the players are they would be playing with at United).

Ribery and Benzema's scoring exploits are more than credible though, and whilst Ribery is already a world-class player, Benzema certainly has the potential. Perhaps the short-term problem for United then is the pace of the Premiership which seems to cause adaptability problems for more than half its newcomers. Both Tevez and Ronaldo, for instance, took time to acclimatise to the league and reach something approaching their best. United have of course been linked with Antonio Valencia, a player with Premier League experience but one who scored just 3 goals this season.

A switch to 4-4-2 with Rooney and Berbatov up front could solve the problem of goals with both players likely to notch more than last season, but more goals would still be needed from midfield/out-wide. Anderson in particular has the quality to score more than just from the penalty spot, perhaps his attacking ability is compromised in United's current system? There still must be concern though that Macheda and Welbeck aren't good enough back-ups should Rooney or Berbatov suffer a long-term injury. A striker like Jermaine Defoe, Robin Van Persie or dare I say it Michael Owen, all of whom are proven in the Premier League might be a better bet (although of course 2 of the 3 are injury prone). If only they hadn't got rid of a striker who has 58 goals in his last two seasons in Europe's best league. Diego who?

By Michael Sinnerton

David Brent and Des'ree once brought us the inspirational maxim: "Money don't make my world go round, I'm reaching out to a higher ground." I think it's fair to say that in football though, money really does.

The return of Florentino Perez has led to Real Madrid's sensational double purchase (pending) of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo. With two of the best five players in world football captured, David Villa is next in the sights of the Galacticos president. The combined spending of the 3 players is reportedly a staggering £156million.

Manchester United, whilst having lost arguably the most complete player in the world and definitely someone who is not directly replaceable, have seen their transfer budget boosted to the tune of £80million. You can be sure Sir Alex, rarely one to not spend, will dip straight into the market to sign the likes of Tevez, Ribery and Valencia. Neighbours Man City meanwhile are unlikely to be shy in breaking their transfer record if possible, whilst Chelsea and AC Milan seem likely to spend big.

Spend, spend, spend as football bucks the recession trend. One thing you can say is that the sport is rarely boring, and with most of Europe's big guns likely to line-up with at least one new star name this summer, the new season, as ever, promises much.

Already there are huge question marks through Europe, how will Madrid play, will they try and sign any defenders? Will Barcelona, already uncomfortable with the amounts being spent by their fierce rivals, dip into the market themselves? How will Manchester United cope without their top scorer and go-to guy? And, is the Premier League still the biggest and best League in the world when the top 3 players all play in Spain?

As usual your thoughts are welcome and appreciated