The Ronaldo Madrid Exit Rumors are Back

Yes, dear friends, they’re back; the Ronaldo exit rumors are back for another round after ESPN and several other outlets have reported that he wants out. According to these “sources”, Ronaldo has set a price tag of €100 million on himself for the summer transfer deadline. And where does ESPN and their ilk base these rumors from? Why it’s the Scotland’s own Duncan Castles. Now I know before you even before you opened this article you shook your head in frustration. But fear not, because these “rumors” feel once again like total fantasy. So, let’s pick this gem apart.

Firstly, for those who don’t follow English football, Duncan Castles is notorious for being an unreliable source. He’s notorious for reporting things that have no factual backing to them. And furthermore, he’s also a total apologist for Jose Mourinho and Manchester United. The fact that Ronaldo’s preferred destination is once again being reported as United, makes this seem as faulty as all the times before Cristiano has been reported to leave. According to Castles, Cristiano is not too happy with Florentino Perez and wants out finally. Once again, no proof of these disagreements actually exists.

Another strange aspect of these rumors is the price Ronaldo has supposedly set on himself. €100 million is not whole considering Liverpool just paid about €85 million for Virgil Van Dijk (£75 million). The idea that Ronaldo values himself around the same as Paul Pogba and less than Neymar is ridiculous. One thing about Ronaldo, as with any star footballer, is that he does have a rather large ego. If Cristiano is really planning to hit the transfer market, he’s certainly not going to value himself so little in today’s over-inflated market. Now of course, the tabloids are defending it saying he set his fee this low because he doesn’t want to chase away potential suitor teams. This is an absolutely ridiculous notion that Real would even accept this low of a fee for arguably the best footballer in the world. Real don’t have to accept a transfer offer and certainly not one that is a total low-ball.

These rumors are quite nonsensical in nature. Until Cristiano himself comes out and says he wants out, it’s ridiculous to trust writers like Duncan Castles to report accurate transfer news and rumors. Especially when he and others have been wrong for so long. The fact that these articles from outlets like ESPN, who are just as untrustworthy, still gain traction shows how easily some people are still baited. Of course these are written for views and clicks, and I’ve clearly fell victim to clicking on them and reading what they say this time around.

With the way this season has gone so far, it would seem like another thing that would go against Real. While he hasn’t been great in La Liga, he’s certainly been fantastic in the Champions League. He’s won everything he can at Real, but leaving for United or PSG seems like a bad move. PSG is a great team in a terrible Ligue 1 and United is a mediocre team who’s glory is far behind them.

While I think United would certainly be the team Ronaldo would leave for if he were to exit, it still doesn’t make sense really. Even with Cristiano, United might not be able to keep up with Manchester City, who look like the new Invincibles. If Real win the Champions League for the third season in a row, I think it would certainly convince Ronaldo to stay if he really is having doubts.

All in all, this smells like manure. This past summer, rumors were that Ronaldo was unhappy, was having disagreements with Perez, and wanted to leave, which obviously didn’t happen. Now, we’re hearing the exact same tune being played for the upcoming summer transfer period. My advice, don’t believe any of these “reports” until something actually happens, if it ever happens. These rumors are to generate interest and they don’t necessarily have to be accurate to get people talking. Don’t put much stock into these, I think Ronaldo is here to stay.