It’s almost certain that Cristiano Ronaldo will leave Manchester United in the next few weeks. Transfer speculation of a move to Real Madrid is all over the papers and the Portuguese midfielder is known to want to play in Spain to further his career - and make even more money!

The deal, set to be around £70million, is a huge fee to pay for one player and Sir Alex Ferguson will not turn it down – after all, if the player doesn't want to play for United any more then there’s no point in him de-motivating the rest of the squad.

It will be a bitter blow for the newly-crowned European andPremier League champions, but life must go on and preparations for the new season need to start in order to gear up for their title defences.

Ronaldo WAS Manchester United last year. That’s all you heard about when the Old Trafford club was mentioned - Ronaldo this, Ronaldo that... He was a revelation at the club and his brilliant play is what ultimately won them the Premier League title. He scored lots of goals, rescued matches and set up many of his team-mates.

He was an inspiration to the midfield and no opposition ever felt safe if Ronaldo was on the pitch. He will be missed at Old Trafford and I am sure that without him in the squad, United will struggle against the challenge of a powerful Chelsea side in the coming season.

It is fair to say that the Old Trafford boys will still be very strong and, of course, will finish in the top four yet again. Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez should continue to bang in the goals up front, while experienced midfielders Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs will no doubt be as hungry as ever for success. United have a strong defensive line-up too, with Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown and Gary Neville still going strong and Edwin van der Sar in goal.

The club will still be in good shape, just not as dominant - and I am sure that Ferguson will have a contingency plan for the transfer of Ronaldo. He is sure to have his eyes set on spending the £70million on a few top-class players such as Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz or even David Villa from Valencia. He will have his scouts working overtime to find new Ronaldos in Europe and I am sure he will not disappoint the Old Trafford fans with his choices - has he ever?

But I think Dimitar Berbatov would be the best signing for Sir Alex. The Bulgarian playmaker has shown his liking for English football while with Tottenham and is also known to be wanting out of the White Hart Lane set-up. If his transfers are good this season then Ferguson should have only Chelsea to worry about realistically - but if he fails to bring in another Ronaldo-type player, then both Arsenal and Liverpool could enter the title frame.

Everyone says football is a team sport and that there are 11 players on the pitch at the start of the match. But Ronaldo single-handedly won a lot of the games for Manchester United last season - and no one can deny that they will miss him when he leaves for Spain sooner rather than later.