Cristiano Ronaldo's New Contract: What Exactly Does Real Madrid Star Earn Now?

Cristiano Ronaldo has a new contract. He looks set to play at Real Madrid until 2018, he looks ready to disappoint the millions of Manchester United fans who were hoping against hope he would be coming back, and he also appears to be able to afford a nice new pair of glasses.

But just how many pairs of glasses can he now buy? The reports are varied on the matter, and Real Madrid are not disclosing the exact figures.

B/R guest columnist Guillem Balague reckons that once Cristiano has paid his taxes in Spain, he'll take home £14.25 million a year. So that's £274,000 a week. 

Revising that figure slightly upwards, Martin Samuel of the Daily Mail reckons the Portuguese ace will earn £15 million a year—or £288,000 a week. Now, in the context of salary hikes, that doesn't sound a lot of a jump from Balague's figure. But in the world of the mere mortals, that is £2,000 a day. Every day. For a year.

Even then, however, we may still not have the figure quite right. According to former CNN world football expert Pedro Pinto, it may be even higher still:

"

Cristiano Ronaldo's new contract with Real Madrid is worth €21 million net per year, not 17. I can confirm from a very reliable source.

— Pedro Pinto (@pedropintotv) September 16, 2013"

If Pinto's source is reliable, that makes Ronaldo's salary around £17.6 million a year after taxes, which means more than £338,400 a week.

All these figures are net—i.e. once taxes have been paid. Wage reports in the Premier League are usually given before tax, and the higher bands of tax for top earners in the UK against those in Spain means that the differences in take-home pay will be even more pronounced.

Whatever the figures, however, it now appears that Ronaldo is the highest earner in wage terms in the history of football.

The Independent's Martin Samuels suggests that his salary is now almost double what new boy Gareth Bale will earn.

Samuel Eto'o, when at Anzhi Makhachkala, was reportedly the best-paid footballer in the world with wages of around £16.7 million per year, according to James Masters and Patrick Sung Cuadrado of CNN. And the same article suggests that he more than halved that figure since his move to Chelsea this summer.

And whatever Ronaldo's pay of the above, it appears to be clear of Lionel Messi's, which Sid Lowe of the Guardian estimated to start at around €11m—albeit with a generous bonus structure designed to make that sum potentially considerably higher.

So yes, in short, Ronaldo earns enough to buy all the geek chic spectacles he probably doesn't need for his eyesight anyway.