Money for old rope?

So the expenses row looks like it just will not go away. No sooner has one high profile figure moved out of office, than another joins the bandwagon of departures.

Of course, the biggest of them all came last week. The one that really shuddered even the most shuddered.

When Manchester United finally confirmed that Christiano Ronaldo would be leaving the 'Theatre of Dreams' to pursue his own life-long dream in an entirely different theatre it seems to have triggered all sorts of crazy talk with highly inflated figures for above average footballers.

There has been all sorts of conjecture regarding the justification of such fees. To be fair, the debate regarding the justification of spending 80 million pounds on arguably the best footballer on the planet seems to be a fairly even one. Sure, it is a lot of money but how do you replace 67 goals, two Premier League titles and two Champions' League finals in two years with the promise of more to follow? With great difficulty, even if you have 80 million in your pocket.

However, the debate on whether Zlatan Imbrahimovic is worth the same amount has to be an emphatic 'no'. Even Real Madrid were scared off by the fee quoted them by Inter. Even if Ronaldo is worth 80 million then that would make the Swedish international striker who has never scored a goal in a Champions' League knock-out game worth about 20 million (25, tops).

So who would you like at your club? Ribery for 60 million? Villa for 40? Eto'o for 15-20? Or, if you're a little further down the league and looking for a cheaper option you might need to be looking at academies and rejects. Anyone want Michael Owen for nothing?