According to reports from The Daily Mail yesterday afternoon, Real Madrid have informed PSG that they will have to pay €1billion to sign star forward Cristiano Ronaldo in the near future.
The former Manchester United star, who fired his way to three Premier League titles, the 2008 Champions League title and his first Ballon d’Or during a six year spell with the Red Devils, has been persistently linked with a return to Old Trafford for much of his Los Blancos career – including earlier this summer amid reports of a bust-up with fresh managerial appointment Rafa Benitez.
Meanwhile, Ligue 1 champions PSG allegedly view the Portugal international as the ideal successor to iconic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic – whose Parc de Princes contract expires at the end of the season – and reportedly launched a £110million bid on summer deadline day. That would have made Ronaldo the world’s most expensive player for the second time in his career.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, however, has insisted any interested party must pay the 30 year-old’s monolithic release clause in full. As quoted by The Mail, he said earlier this week; “If PSG want Cristiano Ronaldo it’s simple, they have to pay the €1billion release clause. No one is a prophet in football, but we don’t want to sell him in 2016, he still has three years left on his contract.”
That works out at a staggering £728million – or 20.8 Andy Carrolls.