MOVER
M17 Subhead lc light Champions League hero could be yours for £100m but are his superhuman powers finally on the wane?
HE may be 32, but as he proved with his Champions League-winning display last month, Cristiano Ronaldo still has plenty left in the tank.
That is why the revelation from Spain that he is ready to quit Real Madrid after eight years against the ugly backdrop of a £13million tax evasion probe, has put Europe’s top clubs on alert.
Not least Manchester United. He left Old Trafford in 2009 for £80m – then a world record – and executive vicechairman Ed Woodward has made no secret of his enduring regard for Ronaldo.
But with a price likely to be in excess of £100m, despite his age, and a weekly wage of £365,000, even those who still idolise Ronaldo would surely question the wisdom of a huge outlay on a player approaching the twilight of his career.
The key question is whether Jose Mourinho feels a player with whom he worked during a three-year spell at the Bernabeu in a sometimes tense relationship would fit his vision for the team.
Ronaldo’s two goals in Real’s 4-1 Champions League final win over Juventus two weeks ago showed he remains the man for the big occasion. Whether he could be so over a season in the relentless arena of the Premier League at 32 remains to be seen.
He played significantly fewer minutes last season than the previous campaign and, to bring out the best in him as he gets older, his game-time will need to be rationed – something Mourinho is reluctant to do with his men.
United are pushing ahead with a £65m move for Real striker Alvaro Morata and there is no suggestion they would pull the plug on that on the off-chance Ronaldo may be available.
Moreover, Woodward and United have been here twice before, with Ronaldo flirting with a return to Old Trafford by agitating for a move, only to end up signing lucrative new deals with Real.
In 2013, newly-appointed United boss David Moyes was convinced he was going to land Ronaldo or Gareth Bale. In the end, Ronaldo signed a three-year contract extension and Bale joined Real from Tottenham for £85m. A cynical view would be Ronaldo’s camp made it known he is unhappy to invite another improved offer. Yet that seems unlikely as he signed a five-year contract in November.
If Ronaldo is serious about leaving, his most likely destination is Paris SaintGermain or Bayern Munich.
He is said to be furious Spanish authorities have charged him with tax evasion and his decision to leave this summer is “irreversible”, according to Portuguese newspaper A Bola.