MADRID: Real Madrid have moved to tie Cristiano Ronaldo to the club until the end of the 2017-18 season by agreeing a three-year contract extension with the prolific Portugal forward.
The announcement of the deal on Sunday ended speculation about a possible return to Manchester United in 2015 when his previous deal expired.
Ronaldo left the English Premier League club in 2009 to join Real.
Big-spending Real president Florentino Perez and the 28-year-old Ronaldo signed the new contract at the club’s Bernabeu stadium and appeared before the media at a glitzy ceremony on the giant arena’s VIP tribune.
Neither Ronaldo, who said 2018 could mark the end of his career, nor Perez provided details about his salary, but Spanish media reported that his net annual wage would rise to 17 million euros (Rs 143.34 crore), making him one of the world’s best-paid players.
Ronaldo admitted there had been interest from other clubs, including Paris St Germain.
“Everyone knows I was in Manchester for six years and it was a club that give me many, many things and I don’t forget that,” Ronaldo told reporters. “But Manchester, it’s the past.
“Now my club in the present is Real Madrid, this is my home, my family it’s here and I am really happy here.”
Ronaldo’s renewed commitment to Real is excellent news for the nine-time European champions and comes two days before they begin their latest bid for the 10th continental crown that has eluded them since 2002.
“Today is a magnificent day for Real Madrid,” Perez, who has spent hundreds of millions of euros of the club’s money to try to return them to the summit of world football, said on Sunday.
“Today we have realised the dream of the entire Madrid family,” added the construction magnate. “Cristiano Ronaldo will be a Real Madrid player for the next five seasons.” (Reuters)
