Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a staggering five-year deal with Real Madrid — worth almost twice as much as Gareth Bale will be earning in Spain.
Under the new agreement, which scuppers any immediate hope Manchester United have of persuading their former player to return, Ronaldo will earn a remarkable £15million a year after tax and before bonuses, or £288,000 a week, dwarfing Bale’s annual £8.3m.
The contract is a clear indication that Ronaldo remains the main man at the Bernabeu — despite Bale’s world-record £86m move from Tottenham Hotspur.
Only last year the player talked of being ‘sad’ at Madrid, and Bale’s arrival, breaking Ronaldo’s record transfer fee from United, was thought to have further damaged his ego.
Now Madrid president Florentino Perez has gone to tremendous lengths to show Ronaldo that he is still the club’s priority player, and the pair appeared at a press conference on Sunday to announce the record deal.
Ronaldo is now believed to be the highest paid footballer in the world — his contract is worth £850,000 more annually than Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s deal with Paris Saint- Germain — and he said: ‘I’m really happy here. I just want to win trophies for this club. Manchester is in the past — I’ll be here five more years.
‘I appreciate the fans like me a lot and I want to give my best on the pitch. Everyone knows I was in Manchester for six years but now my club is Real Madrid. This is my home, my family is here and I’m really happy here.
‘I respect all the clubs who ask about me. But they always know that my decision, that my only goal, is to be here and to play at this club until, maybe, the end of my career.’
Ronaldo said he told Perez he would sign a new contract at the end of last season, but the deal was held up by details, which he insisted were not financial.
‘Now I am fine, comfortable and very motivated. In life there are more important things than money. It’s important. I won’t lie — but the project the club had was more important. The club want to sign the best players, and I feel included in that.’
Listen up: Ronaldo scored Real's second goal against Villarreal on Saturday night in a 2-2 draw
Main men: Ronaldo embraces Gareth Bale, who was thought to be a threat to the Portuguese's superiority
There had been talk of a £50m signing-on package, but the Madrid deal — worth £76m — blows that out of the water.
‘Ronaldo has won the hearts of all of Madrid’s fans,’ Perez added. ‘It’s a great day for the club. We have made the dream of all madridistas: Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid will remain for ever.’
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