Martin Dubravka's agent expertly breaks down if Manchester United's 'Ronaldo rule' will work

Martin Dubravka’s agent has offered up his thoughts on if Manchester United will be able to uphold their so-called ‘Ronaldo rule’ in transfer windows going forward.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who made his stunning United return in 2021, made his shock exit from Old Trafford after his controversial interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was United’s highest-earning player ahead of David de Gea, with Ronaldo earning a mammoth £480,000 per week at the time.

United have implemented a so-called Ronaldo rule in a bid to control wages at the club after the Portugal captain’s lucrative free transfer move to Al Nassr.

The Red Devils have since capped wages at £200,000 per week, with the highest earners expected to have their salaries adjusted when their contracts are up for negotiations.

Agent Sascha Empacher, who engineered Dubravka’s shock loan move to United last September, believes that the Red Devils’ Ronaldo rule could work going forward.

Speaking to SPORTbible in an exclusive interview, he said: “Now, at the end of the day, any football club in the world, not only Manchester United, can only work with the money they have. Okay?

“And if they say okay, for us, this is the limit, then it’s limited. I think it’s… you can appreciate that and also completely acceptable. Okay.

“If you find, you know, of course, the expectation on Manchester United, is becoming Premier League champions or playing in the final of the Champions League. And then you have to find ways to achieve this mission.

“But of course, it’s possible. I mean, maybe, I don’t know their strategy, but maybe they say okay, we concentrate more on […] the scouting, we create a different system, you know, like clubs like Brighton are doing, [RB] Leipzig are doing […] you know, it depends.

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“So, it’s not always that the highest or maximum money leads to the final goal. Okay, so at the end of the day, £200 thousand a week is still a lot of money. Okay, so this is clear. So, it depends really on your concept.”

Empacher’s behind-the-scenes work as an agent was lifted during his appearance on Deadline Day: Football’s Transfer Window, which debuted on Sky Documentaries earlier this month.

Sky’s Deadline Day showcased different high-profile transfers during last summer’s window, including Empacher pushing ahead with Dubravka’s stunning move to United.

Empacher believes that the inner workings of the Deadline Day show will allow fans to see the “emotions” and “stress” players and agents undergo in the transfer window.

“I think that the fan will take something out of the documentary: he will see emotions, he will also see you know, what kind of stress it is to make a transfer -- you will be maybe also surprised that we are scouting the players and we are doing the transfers,” he explained.

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“So, I think you don’t see any sports director negotiating besides in north of the colleague so. So, we are close to the player, we are pushing things forward. And we are trying to help all sides to achieve their goals.

“Okay. And fancy it almost life because it’s a documentary. First part of your question, if there’s something hidden like in politics, not as you think, okay. But, of course, you have sometimes to explain things and you have to do things so that things are going through, okay.

“Like a politician might have to do also things, okay. I mean, if there’s a critical situation, you know, he cannot tell to the audience ever seen what is going to happen at the moment. Okay.

“Because coming back to the sports, I think that the concerns and the emotions of the football player, okay. When it comes to his own career is a different emotion than the fan has a perspective on the player because he’s a fan of his football club.

“And, of course, he doesn’t want his… the player ways fan from to leave the club where he is fending off. Yeah. So, it’s a different perspective. The footballer thinking about his own career, about his own achievement, like everybody is doing it, when he is doing the job, okay.

“Some people are satisfied with the job they are doing, some people want to achieve the maximum out of them. So, as Sasa says, Sasa Kalajdzic says in the documentary, he was on the one hand sad to leave [VfB] Stuttgart [but] on the other hand, you know, it was time for him to go to another level.

“So, this I think, this is also describing the feeling of football, I guess, he’s not always happy to leave, you know, because you feel home. You know, you have your environment, you have your friends, okay. But if you want to go a step further, then you have to.”

Deadline Day: Football’s Transfer Window is available on Sky Documentaries and NOW.