Manchester United Transfer News: Rumours on Cristiano Ronaldo's Madrid Future

Real Madrid President Florentino Perez has reportedly set a price tag on Cristiano Ronaldo of £74 million, potentially paving the way for a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu and back to Manchester United. 

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes.net (h/t Adam Skinner of the Daily Express), Perez is point-blank refusing to enter into negotiations with Ronaldo about a new contract at the Santiago Bernabeu and is willing to sell should a team meet the aforementioned amount. The report cites a strained relationship with Gareth Bale as one of the reasons why he’s tempted to sell.

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A goal for Ronaldo in Real’s 3-0 win over Levante on Saturday cemented his status as the club’s all-time record goalscorer. As we can see here, courtesy of Sky Sports News HQ, his statistics are phenomenal when compared to some immortal names in the club’s history:

Getting past this landmark could well be a trigger for Ronaldo to want to look toward new challenges. After all, he’s won the lot with Real Madrid and has become the club’s most prolific player ever; what else is there to achieve? Therefore, a move back to United, who are still keen on their former forward, according to Skinner, may make some degree of sense.

However, Ronaldo has previously insisted it’s his “dream” to retire with the Spanish giants, per Marca (via Joe Prince-Wright of NBC Sports). So reports suggesting the club want to get rid of their talisman do seem a little peculiar.

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After all, while Ronaldo hasn’t enjoyed his most prolific campaign in 2015-16, he’s a player who is well capable of going on to score goals for many more seasons to come. The Portuguese is also a commercial gold mine for the club, as one of the most popular and recognisable sportsmen in the world.

According to ESPN FC’s Spanish football expert Sid Lowe, talk that suggests Bale and Ronaldo have fallen out is overblown, too:

Indeed, while the pair may not be the best of friends, Real Madrid have been at their very best over the last couple of seasons when the pair have dovetailed together as an attacking force. The Welshman seems to be growing in prominence game-by-game for Los Blancos, and over time, that’ll inevitably assist Ronaldo in getting more space and scoring more goals.

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Still, at the moment, the Portuguese is struggling to have a sustained impact on matches. ESPN FC’s Dermot Corrigan compared his touches of the ball to that of goalkeeper Keylor Navas against Levante:

United, you suspect, would love to have Ronaldo back. The club’s supporters still sing his name during matches, and although he’ll be 31 next year, the Portuguese has kept himself in immaculate shape; he may not be the enterprising wide player who left the Red Devils, but he’ll still poach goals at the highest level for years and years.

Ronaldo seems content in Madrid, though, and while £74 million would be a lot of money for the 30-year-old, there is no pressure on Los Blancos to sell. So unless the player himself does agitate for a move, it’s tough to foresee a scenario where the Santiago Bernabeu chiefs decide the time is right to cash in on their star man.