Ronaldo may seek refuge in England
A FORTNIGHT ago everything was white and all right – or so it seemed – in the world of Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid.
His golden smile illuminated the Millennium Stadium as much as his two goals as Real became the first team to retain the trophy in the Champions League era with a 4-1 defeat of Juventus.
The only taxing part of the evening? Perhaps finding the extra strength to lift the weighty silverware, though adrenaline alone must have helped.
Yet two weeks later comes the possibility of Ronaldo and Real ending up as far apart as they have ever been after the Portuguese superstar’s threat to leave the club, and leave Spain.
He is stunned by allegations being thrown at him by Spanish authorities over alleged tax evasion and, as he said earlier in the week, “There has never been any hiding nor any intention to hide anything.”
Whatever the truth, what irony there is in linking Ronaldo and hiding? Now 32, has any footballer in the past 14 years put themselves at the centre of attention on the pitch more than Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro?
When he left Sporting Lisbon for Manchester United in 2003, the £12.24million transfer fee made him the most expensive teenager in English football history. He was 18 and made his United debut on August 16 when he came off the bench in the 61st minute against Bolton.
It was the first day of the season and his performance in those 29 minutes was so captivating that George Best said it was “undoubtedly the most exciting debut performance I’ve ever seen”.
He did not hide that day and on the football pitch he has not hidden since, making 292 appearances and scoring 118 times for United while winning three Premier League titles and one Champions League.
Spain was always his destiny and in 2009 Real’s lure was too much, Ronaldo leaving United for a then world-record fee of £80m knowing the foundations to become a legend had been laid.
His goals in Cardiff helped him collect a third Champions League title with Real in seven years.
His second was his 600th career goal and he has been voted the world’s best player four times.
He also won the European Championship with Portugal last summer even though he limped off during the final.
Away from the stadium he owns four hotels, including one in his hometown of Funchal in Madeira, and Forbes lists him as the world’s richest sportsman in the last 12 months, banking $93m – around £72m – from wages and endorsements. He insists: “There is no evasion.”
But whether the case progresses or not, his time in Spain looks over, such is his anger and annoyance, though staggeringly he has a €1billion (£874.88m) release clause in the five-year deal he signed eight months ago.
Which brings us to what happens next and what deal can be reached over his release.
Ronaldo has never swayed in his devotion to United. But equally, and while it would seem unimaginable, Manchester City would have the financial clout to join the chase. A player with his desire for top honours may reject Major League Soccer in the USA, though the allure of Paris and Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain could tempt him. They would surely have the funds. As does the Chinese Super League, where Ronaldo could become the first £1m-a-week player from football alone. It is about the only individual honour in the game he doesn’t have.