Yet again, Cristiano Ronaldo might – but probably won’t – be leaving Real Madrid…
Having added a fifth Ballon d’Or and another ridiculous goalscoring record to his name last week, reports surfaced claiming that the 32-year-old was eyeing his departure from the Bernabéu – even going as far as instructing his lawyers to try and lower the €1billion release clause in his current deal with the European champions.
Naturally, given Ronaldo’s huge commercial pull, Real owner Florentino Perez is in no rush to let the former Manchester United star leave. Despite this, he has – reportedly, at least – told Ronaldo that he can leave if he’s willing to pay big to make this happen: Diario Gol claiming Ronaldo will have to stump up a whopping €200m to force his exit from the club.
Predictably, reports are also suggesting that Perez has earmarked Neymar as Ronaldo’s replacement, after speaking highly of the Brazilian during last week’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.
“Being in Madrid would make it easier to win the Ballon d’Or,” Perez said.
“Real Madrid is a club which gives all you need as a big player, everyone knows that I already wanted to sign him at one point.”
Given that Paris Saint-Germain forked out in excess of £200m to sign Neymar from Barcelona in the summer, it’ll be interesting to see if the 25-year-old finds himself breaking his own world record again next summer.
As for Ronaldo, expect another batch of reports linking him with a return to Old Trafford to start doing the rounds any time soon…
