Following the impending arrival of Gareth Bale at a reported salary of
£160,000 per week, Cristiano Ronaldo is making steps to ensure he
remains the focal point of Real Madrid, and is demanding a weekly salary
of £320,000.
Ronaldo wants to remain in Spain, despite being
linked with moves to Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain, but he
is insisting on being paid double Bale’s salary to underline his place
as the club’s main galactico.
He will also expect the club to
campaign more vigorously for him in future World Player of the Year
awards and he also wants a cut of commercial opportunities he is opening
up in Asia and America.
Having scored a staggering 175 goals in
167 games for Real, the Portuguese superstar wants a sharp hike in his
pay, although his contract has two years left to run.
Ronaldo
earns around £160,000 a week the same ‘starter’ wage that Bale will be
on but the former United forward thinks he deserves about £320,000 a
week given his achievements in the Spanish capital.
The fact that
Ronaldo has so far failed to agree a new contract has led to
speculation about his future, with Real’s former president Ramon
Calderon claiming last week the club will sign Bale because they fear
losing Ronaldo.
However, it is not the player’s intention to walk
away and, if anything, Bale’s arrival from Tottenham will strengthen
Madrid’s position in negotiations to keep Ronaldo.
His ego will
be hit by no longer being the world’s most expensive player but agreeing
a deal to be the best-paid player in Real’s history will compensate for
that.
Despite uncertainty over Ronaldo’s future, Bale is signing
for Madrid on the understanding he will be playing with the former
United superstar, not to replace him.
It will be a massive
surprise now if Bale does not end up at the Bernabeu soon. Among the
details to be sorted out is if Portuguese left-back Fabio Coentrao moves
the other way to White Hart Lane.
Once the Bale signing is
complete, Real will arguably boast the most star-studded squad in
history; surpassing even their Zidane-Beckham team from a decade ago.
So
many of their squad, such as Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil, Samir
Khedira, Angel di Maria and Luka Modric, are at their peak and they also
have three World Cup winners in Spanish trio Iker Casillas, Sergio
Ramos and Xabi Alonso.
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