If Cristiano Ronaldo goes all-in, Real Madrid should call his bluff

Cristiano Ronaldo is upset at Real Madrid, and might be using his tax scandal as an excuse to make unreasonable demands on the club. Alex McVey is here to tell you why he thinks Real Madrid should call Ronaldo’s bluff.

There are rumblings in the press that Cristiano Ronaldo is unhappy at Real Madrid, and wants to leave in the summer. If Ronaldo wanted to, he could have quickly quashed these rumors. That he hasn’t publicly denounced these rumors yet indicate someone in Ronaldo’s camp may have had a hand in their initial dissemination.

Press leaks are generally strategic on the part of one party or another. Both the extreme quantity and the severe quality of these rumors suggest that Ronaldo, or his agent, Jorge Mendes, is needling for some kind of leverage at Real Madrid.

The Independent, for example, describes Ronaldo’s decision to leave Real Madrid as “irreversible.” The Sun reports that Ronaldo has told club captain Sergio Ramos that he’s ready to leave, and Jorge Mendes has informed Florentino Perez of the player’s desire to go.  Marca reports that Ronaldo “expressed his annoyance and outrage” at the club, and wants to leave. And, Marca dismisses the idea that this is simply a made-up tabloid story, stating that they are “in a position to confirm the veracity of the story.”

Someone from the Ronaldo camp seems to have been talking to the Press. Indeed, as The Guardian reports, A Bola, the paper which originally broke these rumors, is “close to the player’s agent Jorge Mendes.”

The questions I asked when these rumors were just breaking remain: what is Ronaldo getting at here. What is the point of all this? What more does Ronaldo want? What more can Real Madrid give him? And at what point does Real Madrid say enough is enough?

What more does Ronaldo want? What more can Real Madrid give him? And at what point does Real Madrid say enough is enough?

As I wrote then, Ronaldo is already the best paid player at the club. He already used his enormous player power to leverage for a new contract last November. That contract extends his time at Madrid til June 30, 2021. At that time, Ronaldo will be 36 years old. It also raised his wages to €400,000 a week. Taking into account salary and endorsements, Ronaldo is now the best paid athlete in the world.

If it’s not about money, perhaps it’s about support in light of Ronaldo’s tax fraud accusations:

Samuel Marsden from ESPN FC suggests that perhaps CR7 just needs the club to show him some love, maybe start a social media campaign or two:

"Maybe, instead, all he wants is a little bit of love; some support from Madrid. Barcelona’s #WeAreAllMessi campaign was widely mocked on social media when the Argentine was facing tax evasion accusations, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Ronaldo wanted a similar hashtag."

That sound you hear is the sound of my eyes rolling to the back of my head. The club has already released numerous “Official Statements” supporting the player during this ordeal.

That being said, if a bit of love on social media is all Ronaldo wants, it shouldn’t be hard to oblige him. Real Madrid have an impressive social media team, and I’m sure they could dream up plenty of hashtags and Insta-posts to make him feel the love.

However, if Ronaldo’s idea of “support” in light of these accusations is more substantive, say, if he wants the club to pay his back-taxes or his fees, Ronaldo is barking up the wrong tree.

But why not? After all, it’s just money! Real Madrid would have to spend way more money than Ronaldo’s tax bill to get a player of his quality.

No. Paying off Ronaldo’s taxes would set an incredibly dangerous precedent for the club: “Hey European football super-stars, come to Real Madrid! We’ll pay you tons of money, you don’t have to pay your taxes, and when you get busted, we’ll foot the bill! What a deal!” Indeed, as Perez made clear in his recent round of interviews following his re-election to the position of Real Madrid’s presidency, paying taxes for the player’s image rights is simply not the obligation of the club.

There was a great discussion of the Ronaldo transfer saga on the Managing Madrid podcast the other day. In that discussion, Gabe Lezra noted that one possible explanation for Ronaldo’s anger is that perhaps the club’s internal legal advisors themselves approved Ronaldo’s tax structure. If that were the case, and Real Madrid were at fault, then Ronaldo may have an argument for Madrid paying his bills. But if that is not the case, then Ronaldo has nobody to blame for his situation but Jorge Mendes.

If Ronaldo is instead trying to leverage for an even bigger contract, Real Madrid should listen, but proceed with caution. Perhaps it would be reasonable to give Ronaldo a bumper to his salary after the huge year that he just had with the team. He will almost assuredly go on to win next year’s Ballon D’or, and his profile as a celebrity will only continue to rise.

But if Ronaldo re-raises and attempts to use his player power to hold Madrid hostage to a series of unreasonable demands, Real Madrid should call his bluff. No player is bigger than the club, not even Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo’s wage demands are already astronomical. He sets the ceiling for how high Real Madrid has to go when negotiating with other players. If others feel that CR7 is hogging too big a share of the pie, they could use Ronaldo’s new contract as leverage to demand their own sky-high fees.

It also sets a terrible precedent for negotiations with future Galacticos. If the likes of, say, Kylian Mbappé see that Real Madrid can be pushed around in negotiations by star players who throw tantrums in the media, Real Madrid risk being held hostage not just by Ronaldo, but by any future players who would copy his methods.

Fortunately for Madrid, the contract that Ronaldo signed in November, along with Ronaldo’s performances in 2016-2017, gives Real Madrid a ton of leverage in any ongoing negotiations. If Ronaldo attempts to bully Real Madrid during negotiations, Real Madrid can afford to call his bluff.

Real Madrid could seek an enormous transfer fee. His contract has a €1 billion buyout clause, and Perez will try to squeeze every last penny out of any rich suitors who may come calling for him. While Real Madrid probably wouldn’t get anywhere close to the actual buyout clause, the kind of money they’d get for Ronaldo could be enough to buy a whole host of enticing attackers.

While Ronaldo is one of, if not the best player on the planet, this Real Madrid squad would survive without him. Players like James Rodríguez, Alvaro Morata, Marco Asensio, Gareth Bale and even potential real Madrid signing Mbappé could step up in the absence of Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is 32 years old. Madridistas have been wondering for years now when we might begin to see the decline of Cristiano Ronaldo. Whenever he goes on his occasional slump, the whispers about Ronaldo’s age get louder.  Last year, Ronaldo proved his haters wrong. Zidane has been getting the most out of Ronaldo by allowing him to rest during matches against La Liga’s bottom dwellers. Ronaldo has also become more of a team player under Zidane.

Despite his seemingly age-defying physical preparation, Ronaldo’s green patch is not guaranteed to last forever. One day, the time to let Ronaldo go will come. If Ronaldo is content at Madrid, that time has not yet come. He’s still adapting his game, and just enjoyed perhaps his best ever season at Madrid, even though his overall offensive numbers are down.

Real Madrid should sit down and discuss how to make Ronaldo happy. But if Ronaldo is prepared to use the tax scandal to blow up negotiations, Real Madrid should not hesitate to show him the door.

After all, Real Madrid have been preparing for the inevitable decline of Cristiano Ronaldo for years now. This preparation has come in the form of buying generational talents like James and Bale to stock our offensive roster. Arguably, those players have even been denied their fullest opportunity to shine because they have been living in Ronaldo’s shadow since their arrival.

At Real Madrid, Ronaldo has already broken a ton of club records, won every trophy there is to win, and secured his place in the pantheon of Real Madrid legends. Ronaldo has very little left to prove at Madrid.

But if he wants to break the remaining club records he has yet to smash, and truly shoot for retiring at Madrid as he has stated he desires to do, he’s going to have to play ball. He cannot make unreasonable demands and expect the club to kowtow to him because of his reputation and celebrity.

Chances are, these rumors are just that, rumors: full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Despite being the most powerful player in the world, the biggest celebrity in the game, and one of the world’s best players, Ronaldo has surprisingly little to leverage against Madrid.  Even if Real Madrid were to call his bluff, Ronaldo would probably still end up staying at Madrid.

First of all, very few clubs actually have the money to buy him. Sure, Real Madrid probably could never get the full  €1 billion that they are asking. But they would sure as hell try. Reports suggest that Real are opening negotiations for CR7 at a cool €350 Million.

The most likely scenario is the perennially rumored return to Manchester United. “Put him on a plane, bring him back from Spain,” has been a constant refrain of Red Devils ever since Ronaldo’s departure from Manchester in 2009. However, Marca reports that Mourinho isn’t even interested in signing Ronaldo.

 Perhaps he could be lured to the other side of Manchester by some of that infamous Man City oil money. But would Ronaldo really want to go play for iconic ex-Barca coach Pep Guardiola? Probably not, given Guardiola’s penchant for publicly proclaiming Messi’s superiority to CR7

Bayern Munich has the coffers to go after Ronaldo, but their official website quickly banished such suggestions. They went so far as to call Ronaldo to Bayern rumors their “hoax of the day.” So, it looks like a stint in Bavaria is not in Ronaldo’s future.

PSG probably could shell out the cash. And apparently Pepe is trying to get Ronaldo to follow him to the French capital. But would Ronaldo really want to go to ply his trade in a league that many consider to be behind the English, Spanish, and German leagues in terms of strength of competition?  Would Ronaldo be able to stake a claim to the Ballon D’or if he was helping his team beat Monaco rather than Lionel Messi’s Barcelona?

Of course, there’s always the option of moving to the cash flush Chinese Super League. It is reported that an unnamed club from the CSL is ready to offer Madrid €200 million to pry Ronaldo away. The problem with this move is that given the quality of the league, a move to China would basically signify that Ronaldo thinks his career is functionally over.

Having just won a league and European cup double, and with Ronaldo in the front-running for netx year’s Ballon D’or, it’s hard to imagine that Ronaldo sees the sun setting on his career quite that soon.

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All of these factors indicate that despite Ronaldo’s best protestations, his future is most likely at Real Madrid. Madrid knows that they hold all of the cards. They should not allow Ronaldo to bully them at the negotiating tables.

Again, that doesn’t mean that Real Madrid should be completely inflexible. Ronaldo and Madrid have had a symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationship. Madrid has given Ronaldo a foundation and framework for becoming one of the world’s best players, and in turn, Ronaldo has helped deliver huge outcomes for Madrid both on and off the pitch.

If Ronaldo wants a small salary bump to match his iconic 2017 performances, so be it. If he needs a social media campaign to make him feel good, fine, I guess. But Real Madrid should not allow Ronaldo, or any other player, to use the club’s success against them.

The idea that Ronaldo has made an “irreversible” decision to leave Real Madrid smells like a bluff to me. And Real Madrid are holding winning cards in their hand. If Ronaldo goes all-in on his demands to leave the club, Real Madrid should call his bluff.

Stay tuned to The Real Champs for all the latest transfer drama, and more Real Madrid news.