After soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo shared his passion in playing for Manchester United, the team responded by reportedly offering a huge sum to acquire the Real Madrid striker before selling the club.
In a report by Caughtoffside.com, the owners of Manchester United are preparing to sell the club at around £3 billion. Currently, the Glazer family is reportedly negotiating with Ronaldo's agent, Jorges Mendes, to acquire the star before selling. The Glazers took control of Manchester United in 2005, with Joel and Avram Glazer leading the family after the death of former owner Malcolm Glazer in May 2014.
According to Daily Mail, the estimated cost of 160 million euros for Manchester United to acquire Ronaldo is a good assessment of the total cost of a four-year contract with Ronaldo, considering the transfer fee, the playing contract and a commercial contract. Reportedly, the Glazers are planning to sign Ronaldo to make the club with a Champions League berth easier to sell. Although the owners are asking for £3 billion, they are allegedly only aiming for £2 billion. Currently, Ronaldo earns £16.4 million a year or £315,384 per week, while Real Madrid pays all of his 52 percent income tax, in a report by The Independent. Manchester has to pay Ronaldo weekly wages of about £500,000 per week, unless Ronaldo is willing to take a pay cut to make the return happen.
Previously, many clubs expected Ronaldo to be on the market over the summer, due to Real Madrid's president, Florentino Perez's plan of refreshing his roster. Some experts speculated that Real Madrid is anticipating the Portuguese's value to drop soon. Any team willing to pay Ronaldo's astounding weekly wage should also expect to manage locker room conflicts, concerning how majority of players are paid much less.
Although Old Trafford manager, Louis Van Gaal, initially speculated that Real Madrid would not sell Ronaldo, the possibility still remains, added the Independent. Mendes managed to transfer Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao to Manchester United in the summer. Real Madrid is "not in great financial shape" at present, garnering debts "twice the size of their revenues," the report added.
The Independent also stated that Real has plans of renovating Bernabeu, which may cost 500 million euros. It would save them a lot to sell Ronaldo, who costs them £34.1 million a year. Finally, Ronaldo expressed how he felt unappreciated by the team and how he wanted to transfer to Old Trafford.
One of the major factors to effect a transfer would be Ronaldo himself.