Although Edu Aguirre’s report on El Chiringuito was denied by both Carlo Ancelotti and Cristiano Ronaldo, the rumors linking Ronaldo with a return to Real Madrid were nothing new and probably won’t be done and dusted even after the denials. Florentino Perez himself called a move impossible months ago on that very same program, yet that didn’t stop various outlets in Spain from discussing Ronaldo’s future. And that’s not even including the outlets in Italy and even England that have speculated, too.
Ronaldo to Real Madrid has always been a highly unlikely deal, but the recent hoopla around the possibility of a mega-transfer involving the greatest Champions League player in history got me thinking more and more about the counter-arguments. Including arguments I once raised myself. And I can’t help but think that all of these arguments are pretty flimsy.
Let’s start with the main one that is brought up, which is cost. Ronaldo is not on cheap wages, as he would cost Real Madrid around 30 million euros. But there’s a really important factor that people gloss over here, even though it’s pretty obvious.
Ronaldo only has one year left on his contract. At 36, he is in no position to demand a multi-year extension. At most, he would get a one-plus-one type of contract from Real or any other interested club. That means Ronaldo is not a long-term financial risk or investment, so as long as a club can afford to fit his 30 million euro salary, then they can take him on a year-by-year basis.
Cristiano Ronaldo would not be an economic liability to Real Madrid
If Real Madrid can go after Kylian Mbappe, then they can fit Ronaldo as a backup plan. The 30 million euros they would have allocated to Mbappe for 2021-2022 would go to Ronaldo for that year instead. And then in 2022, they could move on after a one-year reunion or reevaluate if their economic situation improves.
Speaking of 2022, there’s one more economic factor we need to consider. Gareth Bale, Isco, and Marcelo will all be free agents, and their salaries will be shed from the payroll. Bale is the key man here, because he himself makes 30 million euros in wages.
So no matter how you spin it, this idea that Ronaldo is an economic liability makes little sense. Even if you want to argue about his transfer fee, the reality is Juventus wouldn’t get much more than 20 million euros – if that – for Ronaldo, who would presumably want Real Madrid or nothing. Finally, on that note, if Ronaldo truly does want a move that badly, you would think he’d be amicable to a paycut, given he’d likely make up the difference in terms of greater branding power by returning to Real.
The second argument against signing Cristiano Ronaldo deals with a fear of going back to the past or an argument that his chapter has already been written. There’s validity to that, in a sense, because Ronaldo may feel that way. But that’s his decision to make. If he doesn’t feel like going backwards or risking hurting his legacy is a fear of his, then there’s nothing Real can do about that. Ronaldo may not actually feel that way, though, considering his statement about focusing on the future never once mentioned Juve explicitly, in addition to the fact that every prior report to Aguirre’s mentioned that it was Ronaldo who wanted a return.
Real Madrid cannot prioritize Cristiano Ronaldo, but he is a valid option
Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti recently made returns to the Real Madrid bench as managers. Ronaldo is held in even more rarified air than them and has been Serie A’s best player over the past three years despite playing under three different managers and in one of the worst Juve sides we have seen last season.
Ronaldo still has something left to give, so the idea that he would sour Real upon his return is unfounded. He scored more goals than anyone on Real Madrid last season despite playing with a horrendous midfield and an inexperienced coach. So if Real cannot sign Kylian Mbappe this summer, it would be weird for them to turn down the chance to sign a 30-goal-scorer when all they have is Karim Benzema and a handful of “What ifs?”
While Ronaldo obviously isn’t the priority and could even be a Plan C behind Mbappe and Erling Haaland if we lengthen our window to 2022, the reality is that he might be Real Madrid’s only short-term option if PSG do not acquiesce to Mbappe’s desire to leave. Sequels are rarely as good as the originals, but I do think we need to do a better job of deconstructing the arguments against signing Ronaldo, because some of them are overly simplistic financially (lest we forget his marketing potential, of course) or even run the risk of underselling how good Ronaldo still is.