A complete round-up of the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer story so far

First fumes were seen as early as 26th May 2018, the day Real Madrid won it's third successive Champion League title for a record 13th time. As unlucky as people may consider the aura of number 13, some of it's effect was seen on the historic day itself when these words were spoken by the man himself:

Right now I need to enjoy this moment. Later in the coming days I’ll give an answer to fans, who have always been at my side. It’s been really wonderful to be part of Real, in the next few days I’ll talk more, ok?

Football experts and fans around the globe were stunned. The fans (read Madridistas) who were on the seventh heaven 10 minutes ago were taken aback. The celebrations were definitely shadowed by the fear that the world may have seen Ronaldo in the Royal White shirt for the last time. The next day newspapers were confused – should they be celebrating the victory or mourning the departure. Many football experts condemned it as a wrong interpretation of his words while many criticised his timing.

Real Madrid Celebrate After Victory In The Champions League Final

Cristiano Ronaldo was seen out of sorts in the Real Madrid's UCL victory parade were he sung the Real Madrid Anthem. Later, in the Bernabeu celebrations, he kissed the Real Madrid badge suggesting that his words were truly misinterpreted. But the main highlight of that celebrations was Bernabeu crowd chanting "Cristiano Stay!!" and even the players joining the chant. It would be enough to melt any player and make him feel loved.

Fast forward it by about 20 days, Portugal are facing Spain in the World Cup group stage match. 24 hours prior to the starting whistle, all major Spanish news outlets are discussing Ronaldo's tax case verdict in which he accepted to pay €18.8 million as a fine for tax evasion. Not only is the timing of the news quite questionable, but it has something to do with this transfer case. Ronaldo had a decent World cup with 4 goals including a Hattrick against Spain. Portugal got eliminated in the Round of 16. World cup got over for Ronaldo and that's when this news started catching some real pace.

According to reports, Ronaldo doesn't feel valued at Madrid. He's been asking a hike to €30 million from his current €21 million yearly pay. Real Madrid wage structure is really strict which reportedly lead to rejection of Mbappe last year when he was offered to Madrid. But it's not rare to see top clubs doing all they can to keep their main men well paid as in case of Barcelona(Lionel Messi) and Paris Saint Germain(Neymar) . It didn't seem unfair to ask for a hike after lifting the most coveted club trophy for a third consecutive time and to stay in line with the salary of his counterparts.

But if you think deep enough, money may not be the real reason in this case. Ronaldo used to have a renowned €1 Billion release clause which had been dropped to €100 million recently. He was quoted by Marca saying- If I'm worth 100 million euros it's that they don't love me.

With the talisman not getting any younger, this comes as a direct indication that Real would not hesitate in offloading him for a nice deal. This would add or provoke insecurity and the feeling of not being wanted. Ronaldo is also said to be unhappy with the way Real Madrid have backed off from his tax allegation case which comes as a complete contrast with how Barcelona supported Messi in a similar case with Barcelona's mayor coming out in full support of the Argentine wizard. The way Madrid support do not hesitate in booing and writing off their players after one or two bad performances hasn't helped the case either. Contrary to it, the way Juventus fans applauded for Cristiano, a man who is booed in almost every away stadium.

In spite of being a top club, Real Madrid are certainly not very popular for treating their legends the right way (Casillas and Pepe). Cristiano Ronaldo is no Pepe or Iker, his ego is as big as his achievements and he will not play to someone else's conditions.

The power of Cristiano Ronaldo as a brand is evident from the fact that Juventus F.C. stock prices in the Italian Stock exchange spiked around 15% in two days by just the rumours of his arrival to the Turin based club.

As a countermeasure, Real Madrid has agreed to Ronaldo's salary demands, but they seem to have taken longer than required.

These rumours have become a characteristic of each transfer window but this time around, they look truer than a hoax. Only time has the right answer, but till then every Madridista prays that they can see the all-time Champions League top scorer plying his trade in Santiago Bernabeu next season.

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