Ronaldo Will Never Leave Real Madrid

Rumors are once again swilling about that Ronaldo is asking for a transfer. He's not happy, someone wants to sign him, he's not happy…

Along with those rumors, come those discussions of life at Real Madrid after the CR7 era. Will it be Neymar? Someone else? Who else will fill the void of the greatest goal scorer in history?

But I don't see Cristiano leaving until the day he retires, and here's why:

He's Too Competitive

Competition, winning, excelling…these traits are embodied and exuded by and from Ronaldo. He's only content when he's able to thrive along with the best, against the best.

While Real Madrid is struggling in ways this season, it's a team-wide syndrome, and yet we're still easily amongst the top clubs in the world - and will be for years to come. How many clubs would he actually want to go to? The list is pretty limited, and that assumes they would want to splash the cash on him this late in his career.

Additionally, at Real Madrid he is easily the tip of the spear for the squad. Going elsewhere to play alongside new teammates and systems means, even with his prolific talent and undeniable reputation, he won't immediately be top dog.

He Wants to Continue Making History

Cristiano is further cementing his place in the history books with every single day that passes. Heck, he practically breaks a new record every other match.

Let's face it folks, we are witnessing an era at Real Madrid that may never happen again. He is still averaging more than a goal per game after over 400 matches.

And while Real Madrid continue to win trophies, and they've won a ton in the last few years, Ronaldo isn't going to go anywhere when he's still getting the chance to add team and personal trophies to his museum.

He's Too Smart to NOT Retire While On Top

I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb on this one, and it might seem to fly in the face of my first point, but I think that Ronaldo will know exactly when it's time to hang up his boots.

Unlike many superstars who felt the need to revive their careers late on (Michael Jordan, Brett Favre just to name two sad cases), and made us all sad watching their sad inability to realize they should no longer be playing, I think that Cristiano will want to preserve his legacy rather than continue on too long ineffectively.

I also think it's going to be a few more years before he starts to slow down. I mean come on, he's 33 years old and still better than most, as evidenced by currently leading group-stage scoring in the UCL.

He's a physical phenom, and crazy smart in how he's adapting his game and playing time. I think we get the pleasure of Real Madrid's best #7 for a while yet, and when it's time, we'll throw him the biggest send-off Real Madrid's ever seen.