Real Madrid are ready to stun the football world by putting Cristiano Ronaldo up for sale for a staggering £150million.
Sportsmail understands a major rift has developed between the star Portuguese forward and Madrid manager Jose Mourinho following a training-ground row, and club president Florentino Perez is reluctantly willing to listen to offers.
Madrid paid a world-record fee of £80m to Manchester United in 2009 and Perez has said he would want to make a significant profit to appease the supporters for the sale of their best player. Ronaldo, after all, was seen as Madrid’s answer to the dominance of Barcelona.
While there would be numerous suitors for his signature, even top clubs will balk at the astronomical fee and the player’s wages. At Madrid he commands a salary of 20m euros a year, leaving him with 12m euros net - more than £200,000 a week. It might take a net weekly wage in excess of £300,000 to prise him away from Spain.
Manchester City, whose Abu Dhabi owners could easily afford the world-record sum demanded, have declared they do not plan a summer transfer splurge, leaving the former United player’s options decidedly limited.
There have been issues between Ronaldo and Mourinho in the past and the relationship between the two seems to have broken down after a disagreement over the former Chelsea boss’s tactics for the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.
The Portugal winger said of Mourinho’s system: ‘I don’t like it, but I have to adapt because that is the way it is.’ The winger was then dropped for Madrid’s next game against Zaragoza.
Thumbs up: Ronaldo has broken lots of records at Madrid, and scored 38 goals this season
Ronaldo, who has scored an astonishing 38 goals in La Liga this season, courted a move to the Santiago Bernabeu throughout the final year of his time in England.
He said on his arrival in Spain: ‘The great players cost a lot of money and if you want them you have to pay it. I’m happy to be the most expensive player in the world.’
His goalscoring exploits in two leagues have turned him into a worldwide icon.
However, Madrid may have to lower their asking price to attract any serious suitors unless, of course, Manchester City change their spending plans - or are forced to do so if they lose their talismanic Argentinian captain Carlos Tevez.
Tevez's future at the club is in the balance. Manager Roberto Mancini has suggested he will stay, but Tevez has expressed a desire to be closer to his children, who live in South America.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1388905/Real-Madrid-want-150m-Cristiano-Ronaldo-bust-Jose-Mourinho.html
Threadworthy ? Probably not
