Cristiano Ronaldo could leave Real Madrid next year, according to Guillem Balague, but fellow pundit Terry Gibson still thinks the club should sell him this summer.
Former Tottenham and Manchester United forward Gibson claimed on last week's La Liga podcast that Madrid would be best served offloading Ronaldo at the end of this season due to the player’s “obsession” with individual achievements ahead of the team as a whole.
Gibson - who prompted a furore on social media with his argument - defended his comments on the latest edition of the show but Balague disagreed, saying it would be "crazy" to allow the Portugal international to join one of Madrid’s rivals this summer while still only 30 years old.
“Real Madrid should not sell him this summer as he is still in a condition where he can actually make a difference to the team,” he told Sky Sports' La Liga Weekly podcast.
“If he goes to Manchester United or Manchester City, he will make a difference, he will still be scoring and you could still get a lot out of him. So it would be stupid to get rid of him.
“And while there may also be a football argument to get rid of him, there is certainly no financial argument to do it. For Madrid he is still the key to their business model on and off the pitch, especially off the pitch.”
Despite Madrid extending Ronaldo’s contract 18 months ago, with the forward now tied to the Santiago Bernabeu until 2018, Balague says the European champions could look to sell their star man at the end of next season.
“They gave him a new deal recently and the idea is to keep him for the summer,” Balague added. “Now next summer is when I think we will start hearing a lot of stories about Ronaldo where not only Madrid, but Ronaldo, may think about leaving.
“Now this is in a year and a half’s time when he will be 31, so an age when he can still do a lot for Madrid, but from that summer on we are just going to hear a lot of stories about clubs trying to convince him to move on.
“This summer he is certainly going to stay. Next summer is going to be fun.”
Gibson said he stood by comments about Real being a better side in the future without Ronaldo.
“My criticism last week was not criticism of him as a player,” he said. “I just think at times life would be a touch easier for (Real coach Carlo) Ancelotti in particular if he had some sort of idea how to get the best out of Madrid with Ronaldo in the team.
“They do rely on Ronaldo being on form every single game. And when he is not, it is difficult for Madrid to come up with a game plan.
"That was my opinion and I stand by it, so you have to bear in mind that I do see him as a valuable asset to Real in terms of the amount of money they could receive for him.
“I was not for one second suggesting they should just bin him, take what they can for him and move on. There is a lot of money involved in a big transfer like that which he would command, and then that money could be reinvested in new players. So it was not just a question of me totally discarding Cristiano Ronaldo.
“And as I said earlier, if anyone has watched our La Liga coverage since Ronaldo has been at Madrid, then they know exactly what I think of him as a player.”
