Ronaldo joins Real Madrid

And in a flash, he's gone. One year after Manchester United and Real Madrid agreed a deal for Cristiano Ronaldo, the £80m move is finally complete.

Few outside Salford-on-Thames will be sad to see him go.

What do we lose?

A significant proportion of football fans in England want the Premier League to be home to the world's best players, and in losing Ronaldo that is certainly undermined. At times he was a joy to watch - gliding through defences like they weren't there, scoring spectacular goals and occasionally delighting us with a bit of showboating.

But it wasn't until he added an end product to his game that Ronaldo became the player he is today. His incredible scoring record over the last two seasons speaks for itself, and if he can continue that form in Madrid than Real will at least have been justified in spending a fraction of that ludicrous transfer fee.

I don't buy into "The Best League In The World" status. I value factors like competition and integrity above simply paying top dollar for the world's biggest stars. However, if such a status has any meaning at all, the Premier League has now lost any claim it had. Think on this: Ronaldo, Leo Messi, Kaka, Xavi and Andres Iniesta now all play in Spain.

Why I'm pleased

None of this will be new or unique, but I am delighted to see the back of Ronaldo. I genuinely think we're better off without him.

Ronaldo is rightly disliked by a huge number of English football supporters. His cheating, diving and petulance won't be missed. He has also developed a knack of talking to referees throughout the game in an effort to influence decision-making, a trait I hate more than anything else in football. That's why I despise John Terry so much.

C-Ron's arrogant streak is what makes him a great player but also makes him a complete bell-end. He also, in my opinion, badly disrespected Manchester United on a number of occasions, though their fans won't agree with me on that. Furthermore, if I crashed my Ferrari, I'd get locked up.

So cheerio, Ronaldo. The bad memories far outweigh the good ones.