Does Cristiano Ronaldo Deserve His New Contract?
By Josh Hill
Cristiano Ronaldo signed a new 5 year contract earlier this week, but is it warranted? We asked some of our staff what they think
Before we start, lets go over the contract. The contract extension is until 2021. That means Cristiano Ronaldo will stay at Real Madrid until he’s 36. That’s well off his “prime” and with some signs of decline, we have some split opinions. The salary is rumored to be around £400,000 AFTER taxes which seems excessive as well.
Luis Castillo, Site Expert (The Real Champs):
There’s no getting around it: Cristiano Ronaldo will go down in history as one of the best players to play the game. Nobody doubts that. But the question is whether he deserves his new contract. I honestly can’t say he deserves his new contract extension.
At least not with the current terms…
Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t the player he once was. His game has always been very dependent on his physicality as a player. In all honesty, it’s pretty amazing he’s kept himself on top for so long but he’s beginning to show signs of decline. He has five goals and two assists in La Liga so far this season, with three of the goals coming fairly recently. That’s a far cry from his usual standards. I just don’t see him lasting 5 more seasons as the goal-scoring powerhouse he’s been
I think keeping him at Madrid was a great thing. Its obviously his dream to retire at the highest level, and to go out as a club legend is the stuff of dreams but I just can’t justify paying him £400,000 after taxes for the next five years
Will Richardson, Contributor (The Real Champs):
I believe Ronaldo clearly deserves an extension. In fact, whether he deserves it shouldn’t be a question at all!
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In my opinion Madrid can’t give him enough money for what he has done for this club. He came on during a period were Real Madrid weren’t doing as well as usual, struggling to compete with Pep’s dominant Barca side. He came and immediately changed that and made them the biggest club in the world again!
He’s scored 371 goals in 360 games, carried Real Madrid to titles in the league as well as the Champions League, and to wins when they sometimes didn’t deserve it. His new contract isn’t a problem at all. A new contract in the world of soccer isn’t the same as in the NBA,MLB or NFL.
We’re just insuring we control one of our most marketable asset’s future as far as football clubs go. We can still transfer him or even bench him if needed. Plus, he can become a mentor to younger players when he declines to a greater degree.
That being said, he’s still recovering from his injury. I think he still has one or two 50 goals seasons in him.
Ben Sundock, Site Expert (The Real Champs):
I’m pretty neutral on it. It has it’s upsides and it’s downsides. I am one of the biggest Ronaldo fans, but I think at this point in his career, he’s hindering younger players coming through the system. I also think he is inhibiting Gareth Bale’s potential because he is so demanding of the ball. There’s no doubting that Ronaldo is one of the greatest of all time, but he isn’t the same player that he used to be and it’s clear, especially on defense. He doesn’t play two ways anymore and that was really what made him the best.
Khaled Abdallah, Editorial Director (FanSided Soccer Division):
There are two differing opinions when it comes to paying superstar athletes big money: do you pay for future performance/potential, or do you pay them based on past performance and contributions? In the case of Real Madrid, they are definitely going with the latter. They are paying Luka Modric a ton of money and he is 31 years old and are of course paying Cristiano Ronaldo an unheard of sum even though many believe he is on the downside of his career. He would beg to differ however and his stats of seven goals and five assists in all competitions prove that.
What Ronaldo has proven is that he is worth every penny and will continue to be worth that as long as he performs. He has shown that he does not have to rely on blistering pace or athleticism to be effective and that can translate to success even as a player enters his mid to late 30’s. Cristiano Ronaldo also takes better care of his body than any other superstar athlete save for Lebron James and Real never have to worry about him slacking or losing fitness. 400,000 is an absurd sum but if there is any player on the planet worthy of it then it is the Portuguese superstar.