The weekend sports pages have been replete with rumours about Cristiano Ronaldo’s future, or lack of, at Real Madrid.
Depending on where you go for your information the player could decide to stay at Los Blancos if they pay his tax bill or he’s definitely decided that he’s off and wants a new challenge for football reasons.
We were interested by an article in the Telegraph which suggests that £131 million could be enough prize the player away from the Spanish giants.
They say:
Cristiano Ronaldo fee put at £131m as forward looks for a ‘fresh challenge’
The report is also at pains to point out that Ronaldo only signed a new five-year deal last November which had a release clause of £1 billion in it.
Other reports suggest that the player will stay as his position eases over recent accusations about tax fraud.
The Mirror reports:
Cristiano Ronaldo will only stay at Real Madrid beyond this summer if they pay his disputed £13m tax bill
We saw something similar with Lionel Messi a few years ago and at the time TFF couldn’t believe that the player would actually leave Barcelona.
And we have to say that this situation smells exactly the same. Ronaldo is clearly angered by the situation and wants the world to know. But the idea of him leaving the club where he feels so at home and has won three Champions League trophies is hard to fathom.
He’s got everything he wants there and once this tax deal gets sorted out we very much expect him to stay despite overtures from Manchester United.