Cristiano Ronaldo: Man Utd target demands £394m contract to avoid Real Madrid transfer
CRISTIANO RONALDO has demanded a staggering £65m-a-year contract to remain at Real Madrid.
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Real Madrid are keen for Cristiano Ronaldo to stay faithful to the club but the player is unhappy with his current situation.
Ronaldo, 33, hinted after the Champions League final win over Liverpool last month that he could be ready to leave Real.
His frustration supposedly stems from a tax fraud case in Spain, where authorities are demanding he pay a reported £24.5m in alleged backdated tax, fines and interest.
Ronaldo denies the accusations and is yet to comment on the issue.
But Real Madrid’s unwillingness to financially help him in the issue - the club have offered moral support and nothing more - has angered Ronaldo.
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And Spanish investigatory radio show ‘The Partidazo de COPE’ claim to have unearthed Ronaldo’s demands if he is to remain at Real.
According to the report, the Portuguese Euro 2016 winner wants a €75m (£65.7m) annual salary at Real, which boils down to £1.26m a week.
The contract would run until 2024, when Ronaldo reaches 39 years of age, and would see him earn an eye-watering £394m over the duration of the deal.
He has reportedly made the demand knowing that the new salary would cover any eventual fine from the tax case, which is ongoing this summer and which has already seen the authorities (AEAT) reject a £12.8m settlement.
El Partidazo de COPE [Mundo Deportivo] add that Ronaldo is yet to speak to the media since his Champions League final revelation and is unlikely to do so before the World Cup starts on June 14.
He is a transfer target for his former club Manchester United, who have kept tabs on the striker ever since he quit Old Trafford for the Bernabeu back in 2009.
United have twice been strongly linked with re-signing the player - in 2013 and 2015 - but on both occasions Real were unwilling to sell.
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PSG are the only other team with a realistic chance of signing Ronaldo and affording his astronomical wage demands.
The Portugal international was crowned the Ballon d’Or winner for a fifth time last year.