Is Cristiano Ronaldo losing ground in his self-ignited power tussle with Real Madrid?

Real Madrid is facing the wrath of a might be ‘misguided’ Cristiano Ronaldo after the prolific goal scorer has come under the scanner for tax fraud allegations of €14.7m by Spanish tax authorities. Upon close consideration, all fingers should point to his agent Jorge Mendes' firm Gestifute along with the agent himself and not the club.

Real Madrid is not responsible to fulfill the player’s fiscal obligations but Gestifute is. Mendes is a long-time friend and confidante of Ronaldo who might have tried to feed the player with anecdotes against Madrid just to cover up the mess committed by his firm. It is a win-win situation for him as a big money move from Madrid will help him pocket a fortune and even if Ronaldo manages to eke out an improved contract from Perez, the agent’s commission is bound to swell.

History repeats itself

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace against Granada at the Santiago Bernabeau back in September 2012, but refused to celebrate both his goals. After the match, the player went on to confess that he was “sad about a professional issue and people at the club are aware of this.” His words caused much ruckus in the media, but things remained calm at the presidential chamber in the Bernabeau. Florentino Perez showed patience and contract talks began only in July 2013. In September, Ronaldo once again became the highest paid footballer signing a bumper deal of €17m for the next five years, a million more than what Lionel Messi was earning at that time.

It is June 2017 and the case remains the same. His Catalan rival Lionel Messi is all set to renew his Barcelona contract, for £485,000 a week dwarfing Ronaldo’s speculated earnings of £365,000 a week at Real Madrid. Ronaldo’s reactions and tactics to fork out an improved contract has fallen on expected lines and Perez remains unmoved with his recent antics.

But, how likely Ronaldo is to leave Madrid?

It needs little wisdom to understand that any potential move away from Madrid will dent his two primary obsessions; win the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon d’ Or. Although United have won the Europa League and have the ticket to compete at Europe’s elite competition, winning the big eared trophy remains a tough task if not impossible. Moreover, Ronaldo’s sour relationship with Jose Mourinho is an open secret.

PSG weighs Ronaldo as an upgrade over Zlatan Ibrahimovic but they are still far from being a Champions League title contender and have even surrendered their Ligue 1 title to AS Monaco. Whereas, Madrid’s brand of football ensures that Ronaldo’s supply line in front of goal remains perennial as he remains the focal point in attack with Benzema fulfilling the role of a withdrawal striker; which means more goals and higher chances of silverware.

If we leave aside the footballing reasons, the taxman will continue to chase him at any country or club he goes. Ronaldo himself knows pretty well that if anyone can crack this nut for him he is Florentino Perez. The power he wields in the political sectors of Madrid is unparalleled and already two Spanish ministers have come out lending tacit support to Ronaldo. Recently, Spain's finance minister Cristobal Montoro stated that,” No one is a criminal if he has not been sentenced. It is necessary to apply the presumption of innocence in all areas”; an occurrence given a careful miss during Messi’s tax trials.

Real Madrid know that they can still churn out two or three fantastic years from him, which means a guarantee of at least 50 goals a season. But after that Ronaldo will be like a gold-plated Bentley with a burnt-out engine. His astronomical market value will be reduced to a shoe string figure and yet Madrid will have to continue paying his fat wages. So, if a potential buyer agrees to pay Madrid’s desired transfer value of €200m, Perez might give the move a green light and use the money to bring in Kylian Mbappe as a long-term replacement.

Publicly Perez has lent his unwavering support to Ronaldo till now in close quarters he has reiterated that no player will be forced to dawn the white shirt against his will. The power tussle has just begun but it already seems, advantage Real Madrid.