Real Madrid ready to cash in on Cristiano Ronaldo but he’ll cost Man United around £140 million

Posted Friday, September 26, 2014 by 101 GREAT GOALS

Real Madrid are reportedly prepared to cash in on Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of this season but the attacker will cost any potential buyer a package of around £140 million.

With Ronaldo turning 30 in February, Madrid are prepared to sell their star player for a fee close to the £80m they paid for him five years ago. The Portuguese superstar has been a revelation for the club, scoring a barely-believable 264 goals in 254 games in all competitions.

It’s the kind of form that has won him two FIFA Ballon d’Or trophies as well as countless other individual trophies, not to mention a clean sweep of major team trophies, during his time in Spain.

An extract from the report shows the kind of money a player like Ronaldo commands: “Ronaldo earns €21m a year, which is £16.4m or £315,384 a week, with Real paying all of his 52% tax. He costs the Spanish club £34.1m a season. Given his pay equates to £693,844 gross under the UK’s 45% tax bracket for high earners, Ronaldo would have to agree a sizeable pay cut on his basic terms if he were to return to United.

United could further boost his take-home pay by offering him a lucrative image rights deal and other sizeable commercial incentives beyond the normal bonuses awarded for successful on-field performance.

The £140m cost for United – or any prospective suitor – would be the transfer fee of around £60m and his basic wage, should he agree to around £380,000 a-week as a gross figure, which on a four-year contract amounts to £79m.”

United would hope to follow Madrid’s model and recoup a large percentage of the transfer fee through shirt sales and general marketing of his global appeal. The forward is the most followed person on Twitter, having reached the landmark figure of 30 million. Plus, he’s already got a loyal section of supporters at Old Trafford. CEO Ed Woodward would expect to attract a new generation of fans with the addition of one of the world’s best players.