ACCORDING TO REPORTS, it will likely cost Manchester United £140m to entice Cristiano Ronaldo back to the club.
In what’s been a long-running saga, essentially due to the attacker relentlessly speaking in glowing terms about his six years at the Premier League side, there’s speculation that Real Madrid may be ready to cash in on their most-prized asset.
The Portuguese captain turns 30 next February and, given his injury problems at the tail-end of last season, there would be a substantial risk involved in any potential deal owing to the massive amount of money involved.
Last week, Louis Van Gaal commented on the Ronaldo speculation but didn’t think the Spanish giants would be willing to part with their star player:
When it is possible, what I said with [Radamel] Falcao, players like Ronaldo give a lot extra to selection or to a team but I don’t think Real Madrid shall sell him.”
The Guardian suggests that United would offer Ronaldo a four-year deal and close to £400,000 per week (Wayne Rooney currently earns £300,000).
Interestingly, it would appear the story has plenty of traction in the UK but not in Spain.
Ronaldo at Real: IN NUMBERS
Transfer fee: £80 million Annual salary: £16.4 million (after tax)Weekly salary: £315,400
Yearly cost for Madrid: £34.1 million (club pays his 52% tax)
Twitter followers: 30 million”
