Cristiano Ronaldo: Why Leaving Real Madrid for Manchester City Could Make Sense

"Manchester City ready to launch sensational bid to sign Cristiano Ronaldo this summer from Real Madrid," read the headline at Goal.com last week.

In our rational minds, we knew exactly how to react. This was just the latest cheap-shot, baseless transfer rumour designed to suck in gazillions of readers through no more than the sheer audacity of its claim. 

Ronaldo to City should be filed alongside "Elvis is alive," "Celine Dion is dead" and "Andy Carroll joins Liverpool for £35 million" and laughed off hysterically at every mention. (One of those headlines is actually factual, but you get my point. Sorry, Liverpool fans.)

But what if, amid all the fantastical nonsense we get dealt on a daily basis, this was actually one idea to take seriously? What if the "sources in both Manchester and Spain" quoted at Goal.com were genuine insiders to potentially the most incredible transfer deal of the century?

Is it really so unfathomable that Ronaldo might leave Madrid behind for a return to Manchester—albeit this time in the blue of City rather than the red of United?

If you allow yourself to entertain the notion for just the time it takes to read this column, you'll realize there are reasons why joining City actually makes sense for the world's second best player.

Let me break it down for you.

Cash Money

Money is always an object when it comes to footballers. Their careers are so limited that making as much as possible at their peak is essential to spending the rest of their lives in the manner to which they've grown accustomed.

It can be a fragile business, too. An injury can curtail a career in an instant, and form is no guarantee for even the most talented of players (please step forward, Fernando Torres).

Ronaldo earns an estimated £11 million per year at Madrid, which equates to a healthy £211,536.46 going into his bank account on a weekly basis. He's on a six-year deal at the Bernabeu, which ends in 2015.

But if we are to believe the Goal.com report, City are ready to double that salary—and with the financial clout of Sheikh Mansour behind them, we've no reason to doubt they could stretch to between £400,000-500,000 per week for Ronaldo.

Mansour is, after all, the richest man in British football.

Continuity

Ronaldo joined Madrid from Manchester United in 2009 and has already played under two contrasting managers at the club—Manuel Pellegrini and Jose Mourinho.

Reports suggest Mourinho will be gone in the summer, which would leave Ronaldo to adjust to yet another new coach in Spain and, in all likelihood, another overhaul of the squad around him, too.

City could provide greater stability here in one of two ways—by keeping faith in Roberto Mancini, as his new contract offer appears to suggest they will, or by turning to Mourinho themselves, and thus, giving Ronaldo the perfect incentive to join them.

Leading the Blue Moon Uprising

It was always Ronaldo's "dream" to join Madrid, but at Manchester City, he would have the chance to spearhead a spectacular footballing revolution.

City have the resources to rule over England and all of Europe, but perhaps, like United in the early '90s, they need a special type of player to come in and make it all possible.

That man at Old Trafford was Eric Cantona. Could the lure of playing a similar role at the Etihad appeal to both Ronaldo's ambition and his undoubted vanity?

At 27, Ronaldo still has time to earn immortality with the blue half of Manchester. He also knows his arrival would be greeted like the second coming, and City's passionate fans would worship his every goosestep in their colors.

Compare that to the famously fickle Madrid fans, and there's no question life would be easier for Ronaldo in Manchester.

Smooth Transition

City and Madrid are not all that dissimilar when you consider the way they set up. Both Mourinho and Mancini favor something close to a 4-2-3-1 formation, which lends the attacking wide players a great deal of freedom to roam.

Ronaldo has excelled in the role for Madrid and would fit seamlessly into Mancini's plans, making for a smooth transition tactically should he make the move.

There are other tactical similarities to note. According to whoscored.com, shorter balls account for 86 percent of City's passes this season. That number is 84 percent for Madrid.

Both teams average 19 shots a game, and average possession numbers come in at 60 percent for Madrid and 58 percent for City.

Proven in the Premier League

Ronaldo would have no concerns about making his presence felt in England. At Manchester United, he became the first (and only) Premier League player to be named FIFA World Player of the Year in 2008.

Ronaldo's raw pace, physicality and direct approach are perfectly suited to English football, and it's hard to imagine he'd be anything other than a soaring success at City.

Chance to Escape Messi's Shadow

Lionel Messi may be a small man, but the shadow of the world's best player is cast over Ronaldo's every achievement in Spain.

Messi and his all-conquering Barcelona team have dominated domestically and in Europe since Ronaldo arrived at the Bernabeu, and it's surely starting to get old for Ronaldo and Los Blancos.

By returning to England, Ronaldo would not only have the chance to escape such frequent comparison, but also to force the argument that's he a more adaptable talent—able to achieve consistently in two of the world's best leagues.

Messi fans will naturally point to his Champions League feats, but his detractors will say he's yet to prove himself away from the Barcelona family.

Either way, Ronaldo would at least be freed somewhat of such constant comparison.

Friends in the North?

Finally, we shouldn't forget the emotional attachments Ronaldo built during his time in Manchester between 2003 and 2009. Those were formative years for the teenager who became a man, and Ronaldo clearly enjoyed his time in the rainy city.

"I'm not sorry to have swapped Manchester for Madrid though I confess to missing the city where for six years I grew, matured and was very happy," he said back in 2010.

And with that, I'll leave you to think it over.

In all likelihood, it won't happen, but if City do decide to offer £80 million and a package to make Ronaldo the highest-paid footballer on the planet, it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that the Portuguese star would be tempted.

Whether Madrid would consider selling him is another question entirely.