Ronaldo crowns ‘dream year’ with Nike deal

A DAY after signing a bumper fresh contract with Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo has boosted his already mind-boggling earnings with a new deal with Nike.

Together the mega-deals should cement his status as the world’s highest-paid sportsman, ahead of great Barcelona rival Lionel Messi.

According to Forbes magazine Ronaldo, 31, trumped Messi in 2016 with an income of $88-million (R1.1trillion). There are no concrete figures, but Ronaldo’s new five-year contract with Real is expected to net the Portuguese forward in the region of million (R370-million) a year.

He could also bag up to million (R600-million) a year for the Nike deal. Marca and AS, the Spanish sports dailies, say the Nike deal is for life, like the one it has with basketball legend Michael Jordan.

Ronaldo on Monday signalled his intention to keep playing for 10 more years after a “dream year”.

The three-time world player of the year has enjoyed his most successful year, scoring the winning penalty as Madrid won the Champions League for an 11th time in May before captaining Portugal to their first major tournament win at Euro 2016. — AFP