Reports: Real Madrid superstar set to be subject of $224 million bid

No, that's not a typo in the title. Someone is set to table $224 million (200 million or 175 million) to get the Real Madrid superstar

What’s the story?

As per reports in the usually reliable Spanish daily Marca, an as yet unnamed Chinese club is set to offer a whopping $224 million to lure Cristiano Ronaldo out of the Spanish capital. While there had been reports earlier in various Portuguese media about a massive bid in the works, the fact that Marca are now reporting this indicates that those rumours carried substance. This unheard of figure would smash the World Record for a transfer fee and would set a benchmark that few would dare cross – if it does go through, of course.

Marca reports that senior officials from the club will travel to Madrid to meet personally with Florentino Perez in what is the biggest indication that is the most serious bid ever for the Portuguese superstar since he set foot in Madrid in 2009. 

In case you didn’t know

After being slowed down by an injury he picked up in his nation’s victorious Euro 2016 campaign and suffering a subsequent dip in form, careful man-management from Zidane and his own iron self-discipline Ronaldo exploded to life in the second half of the season and smashed in the goals that guided Real Madrid to their first La Liga and Champions League double in nearly 60 years.

His stats for the season? 60 games (incl. National Team appearances), 56 goals, and 13 assists. The man is 32, for crying out loud!

The heart of the matter

Ronaldo was the subject of a similarly audacious bid toward the fag end of 2016, but his agent and friend Jorge Mendes had ended all such speculation with a statement that read: 

“Real Madrid have received an offer for Cristiano, but he himself rejected the offer because money isn’t everything. Real Madrid is his life.”

As strong as those words are, surely, even the great Portuguese forward would be tempted by the salary the Chinese are offering him – reportedly around $125 million a year! That insane number will easy put Ronaldo well clear of any opposition in the “highest paid athletes” list. While these fantastical figures are being swirled around like those zeroes mean nothing, it will be interesting to see how Florentino Perez, and Ronaldo himself, react to it. 

Video

What makes Cristiano Ronaldo truly great? His off-the-ball movement

He’ll keep on playing till he’s 40, won’t he?

Author’s Take

It’s not going to happen. The reason is simple – Lionel Messi and the Balon d’Or. As long as the little Argentine stays put in Barcelona, Ronaldo will want to ensure he continues playing at the highest level. It’s his rivalry with Messi that has driven him to peaks that no one footballers were capable of reaching and any move away from the centre of club football (Europe) will greatly diminish his chances.

Odds on favourite (already) to win his fifth Best player award (and tie with Messi) this year, Ronaldo still has a good few years in him at the very top of the game. Sometimes, money really isn’t everything. 

Besides, Florentino Perez must have a brain fade of epic proportions before he agrees to let his most important asset leave the Bernabeu.