Real Madrid Transfer News: Jorge Mendes Revives Cristiano Ronaldo Exit Rumours

Simmering speculation surrounds the future of Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid following news that his super-agent representative, Jorge Mendes, is seeking to engineer a move away from the Bernabeu.

Alejandro Alcazar of Spanish newspaper Sport (h/t Metro.co.uk's Will Giles) has reported that the Portugal captain isn't getting along with new manager Rafa Benitez all that famously, which could lead to an exit in 2016.

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

Giles' report perpetuates the notion of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United being two of the sides interested in luring the forward.

That's little surprise considering they may be among the only clubs able to afford the deal.

Gossip is nothing new in the ever-alluring world of Ronaldo, but news of Mendes' interjection is perhaps to be treated with some seriousness after CNN's Motez Bishara ranked him as arguably the most powerful agent in the sport.

Ronaldo has experienced a slow start to the 2015-16 campaign despite scoring five goals in five appearances, with every one of those efforts coming in the 6-0 hammering of Espanyol earlier this month.

But Benitez has faith in his star man to start scoring with his usual proficiency again soon.

"It is not like I expect Ronaldo to score a certain number of goals. We have not set a target for him. But I know he will score a lot of goals," he said, per Goal's Stefan Coerts. "Ronaldo has a higher goal-to-games ratio than any other player. That is why he is a key figure for us."

Paul White/Associated Press

It's true that Ronaldo, like any other player, will inevitably start to decline at some point in his career, although the three-time Ballon d'Or winner would sometimes have us believe he could maintain his peak for another decade.

Rumours of a move away have re-emerged just as the phenom sits two goals away from breaking Raul's all-time goals record at Real Madrid, per club presenter Rhiannon Jones:

"

Cristiano Ronaldo...just one goal away from making history tonight & levelling Raúl as Real Madrid's all-time top scorer (323). #CR7

— Rhiannon Jones (@rhiannoncwjones) September 23, 2015"

And it's also true that keeping a player so special content is a necessary evil when it comes to ensuring that they stick around, with the Mirror's Will Magee suggesting that Ronaldo was "grumpy" after failing to score against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.

As if he needed further vindication regarding the kind of elite superstar he is, Ronaldo also received praise from his former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, according to Squawka News:

Of course, we could simply put Mendes' supposed exit desires down to business tactics and the search to land his key client a new mega-money deal, but the timing of that pursuit could be off.

Ronaldo's current deal expires in 2018, when the player will be 33 years of age and quite possibly edging toward the twilight years that—at one point—seemed as though they would never arrive.

With that being the case, Los Blancos face a tough decision in picking when—if ever—to sell Ronaldo, lest they simply allow him to leave the club for free whenever his contract reaches its end.

Six years on from his Real Madrid arrival, and Ronaldo has lived through a sea of exit speculation to remain with the club. However, the speculation will become very genuine at some stage—the only question is whether that time is now.