Interesting little piece in the Spanish newspaper Marca on Thursday that Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has met with club president Florentino Pérez to find out what the club’s intentions are for next season.
Mentioned in the newspaper that since Ronaldo arrived at the Bernebeu in 2008 he has scored 223 goals, an average of 37 per season, yet has only one La Liga title and one champions league trophy to show for it.
Reading between the lines it appears that Ronaldo thinks that Real Madrid have became a one-man team, and that they cannot compete with Barcelona and their Messi/Neymar/Suarez triumvirate unless Bale and Benzema can chip in 30 goals each next season.
Not sure what Perez told Ronaldo, but my guess is that it was not good as French champions PSG have now made a €125 million offer for him.
PSG havd been battling with Uefa and Michel Platini over Financial Fair Play restrictions With those going away, they seem determined to make a splash in the transfer market this summer, targeting Juventus star Paul Pogba to go along with CR7.
The offer from PSG puts Perez and Real Madrid in a tough position. They know that Ronaldo is still the second best player on the planet, but at 30-years-old and with a bad knee, he is probably just passed his peak as a player.
If they sell him now, they can command a world record fee and use those funds to reinvest in rebuilding a squad that has underperformed this season. The departure of Ronaldo would allow Gareth Bale to become the focal point of the Real attack, and expectations in Madrid are that without the presence of Ronaldo that Bale could develop into one one of the best players in the world.
Marca is often seen as the mouthpiece of Real Madrid and the fact that they have been running these stories about Ronaldo and how he deserves more, appears to be an attempt to lay the groundwork for his departure this summer.
If Real do decide to sell Ronaldo, would Manchester United get involved? He would cost them £100 million with a three or four year contract with no sell-on value. United don’t usually target 30-year-old players, but they might make the case with CR7.
Where do you think Ronaldo will be next season? Real Madrid, PSG or Manchester United?
