By Simon Baskett
MADRID, May 6 - Fernando Morientes, the best-paid
player in French football, is proving to be the bargain of the
season for Monaco.
The Spanish striker took a huge gamble moving from Real
Madrid to the casino principality where he plays in front of a
few thousand fans in a ground built over a car park.
However, it is Morientes, Monaco's talisman, who will be
playing in the Champions League final on May 26, not Ronaldo,
David Beckham and the other "galacticos" from Madrid.
His second half goal finished off Chelsea in Wednesday's
semi-final second leg and at the final whistle Morientes,
shaking his head in disbelief and staring into the night sky,
seemed overwhelmed by what he had achieved.
"I'm still on a high," he said. "This is incredible and I
just want to enjoy it as long as it lasts.
Coach Didier Deschamps persuaded Morientes to leave Real on
loan early in the season after Monaco's Shabani Nonda, the top
scorer in Ligue 1 last season, was badly injured.
The 28-year-old has become the pivot around which a talented
Monaco team turns. His ability both to score goals and set up
others, particularly with his head, has thrilled a country which
nurtured the skills of Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry.
"Morientes is our best player and an example to the rest of
the team," says Deschamps. "We always go on the attack because
we have him up front."
FRUSTRATED STRIKER
Morientes was frustrated last season sitting on the bench
watching new signing Ronaldo lead the Real line.
He had been one of a raft of players that joined Real from
middle-ranking Spanish sides, in his case Real Zaragoza, as the
celebrated club cherry-picked the best players in the Primera
Liga and offered them lucrative long-term deals.
Renowned for his prowess in the air, the centre-forward was
an important piece in the side that won the 1998 European Cup,
allowing the club to regain its status as the best on the
continent after a 32-year wait.
Forming a lethal partnership with close friend Raul,
Morientes picked up two more European Cup winners medals in 2000
and 2002 and helped Real to league titles in 2001 and 2003.
However, just after finishing the season as Real's top
scorer in the league with 18 goals, he fell victim to club
president Florentino Perez's "galactico" recruitment policy.
Perez tried to use Morientes as a bargaining counter in a
Ronaldo deal in August 2002, first as part exchange for the
Brazilian World Cup winner and then by selling him to Barcelona.
Although Ronaldo arrived, Morientes ended up staying and
watching most of the season from the dugout. After then losing
his place in the Spanish national side, Morientes realised he
would have no choice but to move on.
SKY-HIGH WAGES
His sky-high wages - around 4.5 million euros (