Ronaldo gets his way as Madrid back down over 'Beckham law'

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UPDATED:

21:12 GMT, 8 September 2012

Real Madrid are preparing a joint
statement with Cristiano Ronaldo that should put an end, at least
temporarily, to the uncertainty over his future.

The declaration being compiled by the
club, but expected to be signed by the player as well, will affirm
Real’s commitment to eventually extending Ronaldo’s contract beyond 2015
and will also give the club’s full support to his candidacy for the
Balon D’Or prize awarded at the end of the year.

Goal machine: Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Portugal in Friday's 2-1 win over Luxembourg

The reaction addresses the two main reasons behind Ronaldo’s current unhappiness — the failure of the club to extend his current deal and a perceived lack of institutional support towards him in his battle to beat the likes of Leo Messi and Andres Iniesta to football’s top individual prizes.

There had also been leaks from the player’s camp that he had grown unhappy because he is not universally loved.

Yet while he is said to be peeved that his name is not greeted with thunderous acclaim pre-game at the Bernabeu — and has even been jeered by a voluble minority — it does not square with claims that his unrest is because he has no social life as he cannot get respite from adoring fans.

Ronaldo had been portrayed as a lonely figure whose daily routine of driving across Madrid, from his home at the exclusive La Finca in Pozuelo de Alarcn to the club’s Valdebebas training complex, was only occasionally broken by an ill-fated attempt at enjoying life in the city.

Insiders told newspaper El Mundo that Ronaldo had taken Russian girlfriend Irina Shayk to the theatre to see The Lion King, entering wearing sunglasses when the lights had been dimmed, only to leave before the interval because he had been swamped by fans demanding photos and autographs despite his requests to be left in peace.

Uncertain future: Ronaldo refused to celebrate his two goals against Granada

It also reported that constant pestering
in public prevents him going to his favourite restaurant and he now has
food delivered to his home.

His unhappiness was also said to extend to the Real dressing room, where
he was once part of a band of Portuguese-speaking players. He has
fallen out with Brazil full-back Marcelo who, allegedly, said Iker
Casillas would be a worthy Balon D’Or winner. And while Ronaldo’s
Portugal team-mate, Pepe, made a point of congratulating his Madrid
clubmates in the Spain team after their European Championship semi-final
win, the former Manchester United hero did not.

Ronaldo feels his relationship with many of the Madrid fans is not what
it should be. After scoring 150 goals in his first 150 games for the
club (151, according to Ronaldo, after a referee awarded a deflected
effort to Pepe) one might expect unwavering adulation. But while the
80m attacker’s name is still sung by his former United supporters at
Old Trafford, at the Bernabeu there is no special treatment.

The cheers when his name is announced before kick-off are no louder than
for any other player … and usually less than those for his manager,
Jose Mourinho. There have even been isolated incidents of whistling from
a disgruntled minority.

Defiant: Florentino Perez

Not just that, in Madrid he is constantly reminded that he earns around
21,800 a day — 1.5 times what the average Spaniard (if he is not one of
the five million unemployed) gets in a year.

‘If he wants a pay rise he
should at least ask less publicly,’ has been the common sentiment.

Ronaldo’s next home game comes in nine days’ time against Manchester
City in the Champions League, and the Real Madrid hierarchy will be
listening for the reaction to the player from the stands.

The first thing Real president Florentino Perez did when Ronaldo told
him he was unhappy, in a meeting he had requested last Saturday, was to
make sure there were no imminent bids for their superstar in the dying
days of the transfer window.

However, the ears of City, Chelsea, PSG, FC Anzhi and even United will
have pricked up, and the potential suitors will have been encouraged by
tales of the player’s tormented goldfish-bowl existence and Real’s
struggle to pay him what he wants.

Yet things might not have come to a head had Real managed to free
themselves of Kak in the summer. They are obliged to pay him 7.2m net a
year but, relieved of that expense, they may have been able to go a
long way to meeting Ronaldo’s demands before things got public.

Another problem for Real is the abolition of the so-called ‘Beckham
Law’, under which they agreed to pay Ronaldo 8m a year net, with the
club meeting his 24 per cent tax obligation. Ronaldo’s current contract
still benefits from the ‘Beckham Law’. But any new contract would, from
2015, be subject to a 52 per cent tax.

Paying Ronaldo his 8m a year has been costing the club just under 10m a
season. Now, by giving in to his 30 per cent pay increase demands, his
new 10.35m take home pay would see them shelling out more than 20m a
season.