In a development that would come as a shock to many, the world's preeminent soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo has decided that he has had enough to Real Madrid and Spain. It is believed that the current holder of the Ballon d'Or might be on his way out of the club due to the accusations of Tax Fraud made by a Spanish prosecutor earlier this week.
A stunning development
The news that Ronaldo has made a decision to quit Real Madrid this summer first emerged in the Portuguese media and according to those reports, the forward is firm in his decision.
In fact, a report stated that Ronaldo's decision to quit Real Madrid is 'irreversible'.
The report in A Bola, a Portuguese paper, goes on to state that the player is apparently upset at being accused of tax fraud by a Spanish prosecutor and thinks that it is perhaps time for him to leave Spain behind. He has been accused of having committed a tax fraud using fronts to the tune of around $16.8 million (converted from 15 million Euros) and a lawsuit has been slapped.
Although Real Madrid has categorically stated that they are fully in support of the player and convinced about his innocence; the player has reportedly spoken to the club President Florentino Perez and made his intentions clear.
What next for Cristiano?
The news has now been confirmed by plenty of other outlets but it remains to be seen whether any club can truly stump up the sort of money that would be required to prise him away from Real Madrid. Ronaldo still has 4 years left in his $511,000 per week (converted from £400,000) contract and in addition to that, he has a release clause worth $1.12B (converted from 1 billion Euros) billion. Although it is unlikely that a buying club would have to cobble together the release clause, Real Madrid can simply refuse to sell unless someone comes up with that money. So, legally Real Madrid are in a stronger position.
Two of the clubs where Ronaldo is likely to end up at if Real Madrid does decide to cash in on him are Qatar-backed Paris Saint Germain and the player's old club Manchester United.
Both clubs have an abundance of cash and would be able to take care of his astronomical wages without much trouble.
Manchester United had in fact been in pole position back in 2013 when it seemed that Ronaldo was certain to quit Real Madrid. However, the move did not pan out as Ronaldo signed a new mega contract with Real Madrid and killed all future possibility of moving to another club.This is however just the start of a transfer saga that might be in the news cycle for a long time.