Why Cristiano Ronaldo Could Become Premier League's 1st £500,000 a Week Player

That audible swoon you could hear last week when the new £5.14 billion Premier League television deal was announced was not from the 20 club chairmen, but rather from the legion of player agents all across the world.

As has always been the case, the players and their agents will be the real beneficiaries when this new money starts to flood the game.

The most powerful agent of them all, Jorge Mendes has never tried to be coy or to disguise his obvious excitement at just how much money is on offer in England to his growing roster of clients. 

“It is fantastic,” Mendes recently told the BBC, “The Premier League is doing a brilliant job. You have clubs at the bottom of the league earning £80 million a season. That's what the very top clubs in Portugal earn."

This new television deal will give Mendes greater bargaining power when he seeks to renegotiate his existing clients’ contracts, including David De Gea at Manchester United, but also embolden him to bring more clients in to the Premier League.

He knows how much money is in the game, and he wants to make sure his clients get more than their fair share of it.

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

If the game’s agents were excited, then there was a more fearful reaction from Spain’s La Liga to the news that their English rival was now even richer.

Asked whether La Liga could now lose some of their leading players to England, their president Javier Tebas, as reported by the BBC, said, “Well yes I think so. We have a serious problem, and we won’t be the best league in a year.”

At the moment, despite the Premier League’s wealth, La Liga still greedily plays host to most of the world’s best players.

In the last five years, the Premier League has only had three players earn a place in the FIFPro team of the year, in contrast to La Liga which has dominated it with 39 players in the 55 available slots.  

This incredible imbalance between the world’s two leading leagues is bound to be reduced over the coming years.

Last summer the Premier League was only really able to lure away players from La Liga that Barcelona and Real Madrid no longer wanted: Angel Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas.

But now armed with even more financial muscle, the leading Premier League clubs should begin to attract La Liga’s very best.

If these leading sides want a trophy signing to symbolise their new wealth, a player that really makes a statement, the choice is a simple one between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Premier League have not been able to boast about having the best player in the world since Ronaldo swapped Manchester for Madrid in 2009.

This summer Manchester United could be about to offer Ronaldo a return ticket to the Premier League and make him the first player in England to earn up to £500,000 a week.

Lionel Messi would of course also be of interest, especially as he is three years younger than Ronaldo, but while he has helped fuel rumours recently, he has been at Barcelona for the last 15 years, and there is no compelling reason for him to play anywhere else.

Currently serving a transfer ban, it would also be madness for Barcelona to contemplate selling Messi without being able to bring in a replacement until January 2016.

But Real Madrid are used to trading talent, and in recent years have allowed Di Maria, Mesut Ozil and Arjen Robben to all leave the Bernabeu.

Having recently turned 30, the European champions might decide this is the time to sell Ronaldo at his peak value and reinvest in younger talent.

A new challenge could also appeal to Ronaldo. In his six years in Spain he has enshrined his status as one of the game’s greats, scoring a barely believable 288 goals in 279 games and winning every trophy on offer in Spain, including helping guide Real Madrid to their historic 10th European title last year. There is nothing new to achieve.

Paulo Duarte/Associated Press

The Portuguese attacker also has one last big contract in him, and he and his agent Jorge Mendes would naturally be looking towards the Premier League to now provide that.

A return to Manchester United could strongly appeal to him. He knows the club and the city, he is already loved there, and he would sweep back in to Old Trafford as their saviour to lift the malaise that has consumed them ever since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.

At the moment Manchester United are currently paying Radamel Falcao a weekly wage estimated to be somewhere between £265,000 and £345,000, per Richard Wheatstone of the Manchester Evening News. For this, the Colombian has so far provided just four league goals.

To pay a player an unprecedented £500,000 a week would represent a huge increase on their current highest wage, but United would be getting the world’s best in Ronaldo and a player who guarantees goals.

After another underwhelming season, Manchester United are prepared to spend heavily in the summer once again, and Ronaldo’s capture would immediately reinvigorate the club for next season.

Last September the United manager Louis van Gaal, as reported by the BBC, admitted it was “possible” Manchester United could sign Ronaldo.

After the announcement of this new television deal the return of Ronaldo to Old Trafford has become even more possible.