Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new contract with current club Real Madrid to stay with the team for the next five years.
The news was revealed on Sunday and put an end to the speculation about whether the Portuguese superstar planned to remain with his old club. Many expected that Ronaldo would look to return to his former club Manchester United, but the decision all but rules out a reunion at the Old Trafford.
"I will be honest with you -- everyone knows I was in Manchester for six years, but Manchester is in the past. Now my club is Real Madrid. This is my home, my family is here and I'm really happy here," Ronaldo said, according to ESPN.
Many players have signed extensions and have then left for another team and that's still a distinct possibility for Ronaldo. While addressing the media, Ronaldo said that he could finish his career at Madrid, but did not make a definitive statement.
"I respect all the clubs who asked about me. But they always know that my decision, that my only goal, is to be here and to play at this club until maybe the end of my career. The future, nobody knows," he said.
The deal is stated to make Ronaldo the highest paid player in soccer history and will cost Los Blancos approximately 17 million euros per year; that eclipses Lionel Messi's 13 million euros per year deal (Messi also gets a three million euro bonus). However, Ronaldo was not particularly interested in talking money with reporters.
"In life, there are things more important than money,'' he said. "It is important -- I am not going to lie -- but the project is to win things. I feel integrated into this project. The issue is not whether I'm the best paid in the world, the second or the third.''