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According to reports in The Telegraph and The Guardian, Manchester United will have to come up with a package close to their entire transfer spend this past summer if they want to sign former player Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of the season. The staggering amount of £140 million includes a £60 million transfer fee and £380,000-a-week in player wages.
The figures were sounded to Europe’s leading clubs should they be interested in signing the Portuguese forward. Ronaldo is into the second year of a 5-year deal at Real Madrid and any potential suitor might have to shell out as much as £19 million a year in wages alone in a four-year deal.
Manchester United spent close to £150 million to sign Angel Di Maria, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera as well as forward Radamel Falcao on loan during a busy transfer window. Manager Louis van Gaal recently refused to rule out a move for the player who spent his formative years at the club before becoming a goal machine in Spain.
This past summer has seen the 29-year-old not being on the best of terms with club president Florentino Perez after the sales of Angel Di Maria and Xabi Alonso and purchases of World Cup heroes James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos. According to Mark Ogden of the Telegraph, there is speculation that Perez now wants to cash in on his prized asset with the recent financial problems that have surfaced.
The player himself has in recent times talked about a possible return to England.
“I love Manchester and you never know in football,” Ronaldo said. “Of course I’m happy at Real Madrid; it’s my home, it’s my club, but United treated me unbelievably, so you never know.
It is well documented that the Old Trafford based outfit made serious attempts to sign the player in 2013, but he ended up signing a new five-year deal at his club instead after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.
The only serious rivals for his signature Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are both walking the FFP tightrope after a rap on the wrists by Uefa.
United’s new commercial power – £75 million a year and £53 million a year from Adidas and Chevrolet respectively- means no deal is too big for them. Another option for United would be to get rid of Juan Mata, Robin van Persie and not pursue the option to sign Falcao which could theoretically pay Ronaldo’s wages.
