Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t want to renew his contract with Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo made the tactical move after Real Madrid’s horror loss to Tottenham of suggesting for the first time in his career that he was in fact not pining for a new contract. 

Generally speaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract cycles are very simple.  He signs a five-year deal with higher pay and then he is happy for a year.  Then the following year he plays phenomenally and discusses other options.  The third year he is unhappy and needs a new contract.

He did this at Manchester United and he has done so multiple times at Real Madrid.  Cristiano Ronaldo is about his money.  That’s not a bad thing.  It’s just an acknowledgment of the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo has always appreciated the fact that for his phenomenal talent level he can earn an equally phenomenal paycheck.

Last season Ronaldo signed a new contract saying that he was happy to stay at Real Madrid until he was 40 years old.  With his work habits and dedication it’s not impossible to believe that he very well could play into his 40’s at a very high standard.

This is the part of the cycle where Cristiano Ronaldo pretends to claim he is happy while he also checks around for the offers.  PSG will probably phone his agent and they’ll flirt a little bit.  Ronaldo will also at some point say he misses Manchester United and that Manchester is where his heart is.  Then he’ll score 35-40 goals over the rest of the season.

Next year he’ll sign a new contract.  He knows his next contract is likely to be his last massive one.  He’s 31 years old and has for the first time in his career started to show hints of a downturn in form.  No one says that it’s age out loud, but it could be a factor.

Cristiano Ronaldo is simply showing off the fact that his negotiating skills are almost as good as his footballing ones.  He’s a massively intelligent person and knows how the business of football works.  It’s why he’s the highest paid athlete in the world.  If he did leave it would probably be to PSG, where like Zlatan, he could cushion his statistics against lower ranking opposition for a little bit and collect a massive salary while pursuing his widely acknowledged interests in fashion.

Next: Real Madrid offer will be laughed out of the room

Chances are though Ronaldo stays in Madrid, where he really belongs, under the bright lights of the Bernabeu.  He just simply isn’t willing to do it for cheap and frankly, why should he?