LONDON — The hair-gel industry in northwest England suffered a catastrophic blow Thursday in a world-record sports transaction after which the soccer marvel Cristiano Ronaldo seemed Spain-bound.
When Manchester United, the colossal English club, reaped $131 million for the negotiation rights for Ronaldo from Real Madrid, the colossal Spanish club, immediate sympathy had to veer toward those in Greater Manchester who make, distribute and sell refined goo.
If Real Madrid's spending just this week -- $223 million on two phenomenal players -- seemed oblivious to a global recession, these people might feel the brunt.
The gel required to prepare Ronaldo's hair for a game in six blossoming, dazzling years at Manchester United always did seem sufficient to slather a large farm animal, but it also helped feed the spectacle that fed the staggering payment that transferred the reigning FIFA world player of the year who, at 24, somehow manages to achieve both absurdity and respectability.
The former stems from his runway-model looks and utter lack of interest in cloaking his stunningly comprehensive vanity.
The latter, which managed to occlude the former even in unpretentious northwest England, entails the Portuguese star's raved-about dedication to his craft, a renowned toil that has enabled both the 95 goals he showered across the last three seasons and fearsome talent that makes him a radioactive presence on the pitch.
The man has substance beyond that in his hair, so the resounding relocation of a spectacle birthed a heap of realities and questions.
It epitomized the runaway stakes of the globe's biggest sport, especially the mushrooming European Champions League, a continent-wide competition in which Manchester United has reached the last two finals, winning one, while nine-time champion Real Madrid has suffered recent irrelevance.
The very idea of spending $131 million just to negotiate with one player -- especially just after the $92 million to sign the Brazilian phenomenon Kaka from Italy's AC Milan -- has known no peer even in the United States, where the most profligate case would be the Boston Red Sox's $51-million bid to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, whom they signed.
"It is very puzzling at a time when football faces some of its worst-ever financial challenges," European soccer President Michel Platini told the BBC. "These transfers are a serious challenge to the idea of fair play and the concept of financial balance."
