Real Madrid WILL not keep Cristiano Ronaldo against his will this summer, according to Marca… but want £160million for him
REAL MADRID will sell Cristiano Ronaldo this summer, according to Spanish outlet Marca... for £160million.
The Portuguese star, 32, incredibly claimed he wants to leave the Bernabeu.
Jose Mourinho‘s Manchester United were quickly installed as the bookies’ favourites to land him – as Ronaldo has a place in his heart for them.
CR7 left boyhood club Sporting Lisbon in 2003 to join the Old Trafford giants, before leaving for Real in 2009 - with talk of him leaving Madrid surfacing on Friday morning.
In 2014, Ronaldo told the Telegraph: "I love Manchester. Everyone knows that. Manchester is in my heart.
"I left many good friends there. The supporters are amazing and I wish I can come back one day."
However, Marca are claiming clubs harbouring any hope of landing Ronaldo will need to stump up at least £160m for the star.
At present, Man United and Paris Saint-Germain are the two clubs leading the race to land the Euro 2016-winning forward.
Clubs in the Chinese Super League have been quick to spend big in recent seasons, with Carlos Tevez particularly making headlines for his move to Shanghai Shenhua.
While clubs in China may have the money for a deal - which could set clubs back £350m in transfer fee and wages - but Ronaldo may opt to compete in one of Europe's 'Big Five' leagues.
While Marca report Real Madrid are willing to sell, they also claim the club are attempting to calm the fire in order to keep CR7 at the Bernabeu.
Ronaldo originally claimed he wanted to leave as he was disappointed with the way the club dealt with his tax scandal.
He is said to feel the club has not protected him sufficiently after he was charged with allegedly evading £13million in tax.
El Confidencial claim Real contacted all the Spanish media outlets and requested them not to publish pictures of Ronaldo in a Madrid shirt when covering the tax story.
The star forward was also puzzlingly left out of a video promo for Madrid’s new kit.