PSG’s secret talks over Ronaldo
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN will start as favourites to sign Cristiano Ronaldo if the four-time Ballon d’Or winner goes ahead with a threat to quit Real Madrid. Manchester United would love to bring the Portuguese superstar back to Old Trafford but already have ground to make up following a secret meeting between Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi in Cardiff on the afternoon of the Champions League final. Ronaldo is said to be unhappy that he is facing proceedings over a claim that he owes £13million in taxes and has warned he will leave Spain if he is convicted of tax fraud. It is understood Mendes told Al-Khelaifi about the problems developing and promised to keep him informed. PSG have coveted 32-year-old Ronaldo for years and will spend whatever it takes to land one of football’s megastars.
PARIS SaintGermain have stolen a march on their rivals if Cristiano Ronaldo decides to leave Real Madrid after the French side held clandestine talks with his agent in Cardiff.
Ronaldo, 32, has told Madrid he will leave Spain for good if convicted of tax fraud this summer. The World Player of the Year does not believe he has been treated fairly over claims in Spain that he owes the taxman £13million.
If he does leave the reigning European champions, PSG will be first in the queue for his services after talking through possibilities with Jorge Mendes in Cardiff two weeks ago.
Sportsmail can reveal that Mendes met PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi in the Welsh capital on the afternoon of the Champions League final on June 3. Hours before Ronaldo played a starring role in Real’s 4- 1 demolition of Juventus at the Millennium Stadium, Mendes held a twohour meeting with Qatari businessman Al-Khelaifi at the city’s Hilton Hotel.
Mendes has current interests at the French club, such as another former Manchester United player Angel di Maria, and is also looking to place other clients at new clubs this summer, including unwanted Real defender Pepe.
However, it is understood that Mendes told Al- Khelaifi at the meeting that problems were imminent with Ronaldo in Spain and that the PSG chief asked to be kept informed of developments.
PSG have coveted Ronaldo for many years, aware of what the Portuguese could do for them commercially on top of his ability on the field. The French club thought they had a chance of signing him 18 months ago, only for Ronaldo to commit to a new contract at the Bernabeu.
Having lost their league title to Monaco following the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic last summer, PSG would not hesitate to spend whatever is necessary to bring arguably the world’s most iconic footballer to Paris in time for next season.
Al-Khelaifi is recognised as the most influential and powerful man in French football and would back himself to pull off the deal.
United fans will also have had their hopes raised by news of Ronaldo’s unhappiness yesterday. The Portuguese has never been replaced in the hearts of those he left behind at Old Trafford when he departed for Spain eight years ago. United officials have always been aware of the attraction of a Ronaldo return but would in all likelihood be unwilling to compete with the kind of financial package put together by PSG for a player around whom manager Jose Mourinho would essentially have to build his whole team.
In recent years it has been Ronaldo’s Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale who has been at the top of the Old Trafford wish list. Mourinho would be given the final say on whether United enter the bidding if and when Ronaldo does decide to seek a move.
In Spain yesterday, reports of Ronaldo’s unhappiness were certainly being taken seriously.
The crux of the problem is that Ronaldo has been accused by the regional state prosecutor of failing to pay the correct amount of tax between 2011 to 2014. Ronaldo feels aggrieved because he has made efforts to put his affairs in order and, for example, made an extra payment of £5m in 2014.
He believes the prosecution’s accusation is a result of a difference of interpretation of Spain’s complicated tax laws on image rights and should not therefore result in criminal proceedings. A Madrid judge will decide over the next fortnight if the case will go to court and Ronaldo would then have 30 days to decide whether to pay a fine or fight the case and risk stronger punishment.
Coincidentally, Ronaldo’s great rival Lionel Messi was recently given a 21-month suspended prison sentence for failing to declare £3.6m of image rights earnings.