Real Madrid are apparently looking at three players to achieve the impossible. Their purpose is try to replace club goalscoring record holder and 413 goal in 409 match man Cristiano Ronaldo.
Relations between Cristiano Ronaldo and club President Florentino Perez are apparently strained over the fact that Ronaldo wants a new contract. It was only last season that Cristiano Ronaldo signed a new contract for five seasons and a club record salary. That said as soon as Neymar got his deal at Paris Saint-Germain the Real Madrid forward has felt undervalued.
Interestingly enough it is a point of pride for Ronaldo that he has for a large period of his career been the highest paid player in the world. He was the original payer to have a “highest-paid” clause in his contract demanding that he always be kept the highest paid player in the world. That has in recent years been pulled out of his contracts but with Neymar and Messi signing deals to be higher compensated than Ronaldo it’s only in keeping with Ronaldo’s character that he is of course asking for more money now.
He may however be doing it at the wrong time. Real Madrid and Ronaldo himself are in an awful run of form and don’t appear to be doing very good negotiating for themselves on the pitch. Where Messi has proven his worth to Barcelona by keeping them top despite the loss of Neymar and the Brazilian himself has been in blistering form since touching down in France.
Ronaldo’s demands are alienating him from the club who are in return looking at youth players around the world who can replace him. The truth is simple that while Real Madrid are displeased with Ronaldo they’re not going to find a youth player of his quality.
That’s not to say that each of the players Real Madrid are scouting in an apparent move to perhaps replace the Portuguese aren’t special. Goncalo Guedes, Alan Souza and Lincoln are all very special young men but we’re talking about Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo is one of the best players of all time. Definitely a top 10 but very reasonably a top 5 or even to some people the greatest player ever. Each one of these young prospects will be a special player but the expectation that they could come close to Ronaldo is simply impossible.
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Real Madrid should as always solve their issues with Ronaldo, who may be entering his decline finally, but thinking that they will ever be able to replace him is simply absurd.