That was quick! Rumors of Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit from Real Madrid may have been premature. Reports are suggesting that Ronaldo has calmed down after a public reassurance from Flortentino Perez.
Something may have changed inside the Cristiano Ronaldo camp. I recently wrote that Ronaldo’s representation seems to have had a hand in the dissemination of the rumors that Ronaldo was unhappy at Madrid, possibly to try to bolster his hand in negotiations with the club.
If that was the strategy, Ronaldo’s representation may have softened their stance. The soccer world is abuzz this morning with news that Ronaldo is reconsidering his supposedly “irreversible” decision to find a new club this summer.
Reports indicate that an As journalist close to Jorge Mendes was told that Ronaldo was reassured by Florentino Perez’ public statements supporting the player.
AS's closest journalist to Jorge Mendes saying today that Ronaldo has been calmed down by Perez defence of him and no longer wants to leave
— Richard Martin (@RichMartinMcr) June 21, 2017
In an interview on Ondo Cero, Perez stated that he supports the player and believes in his innocence, but that he was not considering having the club pay his taxes.
The Independence reports that this may have been enough to get Ronaldo to step back from the edge. Although mostly that report is just a re-statement of the As rumor, and transcriptions of Perez’ interview.
Hopefully it’s true that Ronaldo has calmed down and is ready to accept his fate in Spain. That’s great. Like I wrote yesterday:
"Chances are, these rumors are just that, rumors: full of sound and fury, signifying nothing… Despite Ronaldo’s best protestations, his future is most likely at Real Madrid. Madrid knows that they hold all of the cards."
A charitable read of the recent transfer drama for Ronaldo would be that he expressed a desire to be supported by Real Madrid in the face of intense media scrutiny, and that it got unduly blown up by a transfer hungry press. Once Perez publicly confirmed his support of the player, Ronaldo was satisfied.
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That’s certainly plausible explanation. But I’m not entirely convinced.
Perez’ statement about Ronaldo was pretty boiler plate, not much different than the Official Statements the club has already released in support of the player. It’s hard to understand why a short interview on Ondo Cero basically restating the same thing the club has been saying all along would have substantially changed Ronaldo’s mind about a supposedly “irreversible” decision.
An alternative, less charitable hypothesis: Ronaldo and/or his agent thought they could use the tax scandal as an opportunity to put pressure on Real Madrid, only to realize that they were playing a losing hand.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. In all likelihood, Ronaldo was never actually ready to leave the club. And Real Madrid was never going to sell him. The club and player are too inextricably intertwined at this point for either to decide it’s in their best interest to part ways quite yet.
Who knows what Ronaldo or his representation were angling at with the presumed recent round of leaks to the press.
Let’s hope this aspect of the silly season can be put behind us. There’s a lot to love about the transfer window. The possibility of exciting new signings makes it interesting. to speculate about who’s coming in, and who’s going out. But it would be best if the Ronaldo transfer drama could be put to bed.