A Juvenile Gentleman.

Shattered a man could get when the best player in his team is on the brink of leaving. You get very confused and you don’t know if you should allow him the opportunity or not. Every Manchester United fan is soundlessly counting the days till the end of Euro 2008 in order to find out the outcome. We log on the internet more than we usually do to follow the never-ending saga.

I never hid the fact that I want him to stay for the rest of his life wearing the number 7 jersey as he will surely emulate all his preceders that involve Best, Robbo, Becks, Coppell and my beloved King Cantona whom I owe everything for making me a Manchester United fan. He can go on and win us more trophies in Europe, and break Liverpool's record in the Premiership. He is our disparity which we hold against our local rivals, and our edge towards glory amongst foreign sides. He is simply the best player on the planet. And yes call me selfish, but after Best, Law and Charlton in the 60's; and even though we are the greatest team in the world, we've just never had that 'special' guy that fans from all over the globe would pay to watch him warm- up, let alone play a game. It feels good to have the best player in the world playing week in week out in your colours.

But you know what? I do not care anymore. Neglect everything that I wrote above. Putting aside my feelings, you will never be bigger than Manchester United. Yes, you are the best player on earth, but apart from showing your class on the field, I cannot believe you are nowhere near off it. I am humiliated and discomfited from you.

You’ve been at Old Trafford for five years but it’s only the last two seasons and a half you’ve set the place on fire. Prior to that, Fergie stuck with you. We stuck by you.

Remember us?

Did you forget the diving? Did you forget the showboating selfish play? Did you forget the support you received after your bust-up with Ruud who is considered our greatest ever striker, and in a glimpse we let him go and kept you? Did you forget the wink at the World Cup two years ago?

But is it worth anything what I am saying? I don't think so.

I understand if it’s your dream to play in Madrid but you owe it to United to be patient — and that’s why you should stay. Doesn’t the affection of United’s fans and your team-mates mean anything to you? I’m sure you’ve got advisors whispering in your ear but surely you have realised they could only be in it for the money, rather than your personal welfare.

While Real may be tempting you with £300,000 a week after tax, how much money do you actually want? If you stay in Manchester, you could be banking £7.5million a year. It shouldn’t be about money at all, in any case.

Fans beg local players not to leave because they’re hometown heroes, but with a foreign superstar, the situation has to be different. The loyalty - or lack thereof - shouldn’t be compared, because why should a foreigner feel loyal to the club? People like Thierry Henry talk about Arsenal now being in his blood. But if that was the case, he’d have never have left. Gary Neville and Paul Scholes and idols elsewhere like Javier Zanetti, Paulo Maldini, Francesco Totti or even people like Stewart Downing are the players' fans most get attached to. One club men, playing for their boyhood team. It’s when they leave that fans have a real right to kick up a storm.

But not you. At the end of the season, I’d have loved it if you had said ‘I’m not interested in joining Real — I’m happy at United.’ But you didn’t. You gave a smile and said you’d let us know ‘in two or three weeks.’ You may have thought you were being funny but no one was laughing.

And you know what? People who say you should leave because you've won it all with us are just silly! You haven't achieved everything. That's like saying Johan Cruyff should've left Ajax after winning his first European Cup instead of captaining them to three. The reason players like Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Baresi are revered is because they built dynasties that ruled European football. You haven't achieved everything because Manchester United haven't achieved everything. Rio, Carrick and Tevez have all spoken in the last month about how they should've done the Treble, for instance. If we win the European Cup next season THEN, and only then, you can start thinking of yourself being on the same level with the greats. You can 'proudly' say I was a key figure in the first team to win back to back European titles since the knockout system was changed to the group system and the Champions Cup became the Champions League. That will truly be historic because by all admissions the fact that the 2nd, 3rd and 4th best from the top leagues all enter the Champions League makes it harder to win these days. But even then when you think about it, Nottingham Forest won back to back European Cups. Fact of the matter is in football there is always more to achieve that's what drives men like Ferguson and Giggs on in spite of their age. If you can't see that then you really should leave because Manchester United is all about hunger and desire. Take for example the '99 group; they weren't the best player for player but they were the hungriest. They had to beat Spurs to win the league knowing Arsenal were winning on the last day of the season and they did. They had to beat Newcastle to win the F.A. Cup the next week and they did. The next Wednesday without Scholes and Keane they had to hang on against Bayern and keep trying for 93 minutes and they did. Beckham, the man you replaced, was never on the level of Ronaldinho but he would run his heart out for the team, for the dream...shame Fergie booted him out. Do you get it? It is clear you don't want to aspire to that level of the Di Stefano's, the Cruyff's and the Beckenbauer's. Men who led footballing empires, and therefore we should sell you. And we shall do it NOW! With or without you we will be aiming to win the European Super Cup, the World Club Cup, the FA Cup, the Premier League and the Champions League.

Even if you do surprise us and decide to stay, I’m not convinced your heart will be in the job. Not after your recent behaviour. In 12 months’ time, we’ll end up with another similar 'will you stay or will you leave' pantomime. Arsenal had this with Patrick Vieira and it didn’t do them any good.

Having a player in this situation is a bit like having a girlfriend who is unhappy. There comes a time when you just have to split.