Cristiano Ronaldo's £80m Real deal stalls on Manchester United star's contract demands

17 June 2009 11:23
Cristiano Ronaldo's £80million move from Manchester United to Real Madrid has hit a snag over the Portugal star's image rights. The Spanish giants want to conclude the transfer before the weekend but his agent Jorge Mendes is still locked in talks over the finer details of his contract, according to reports in Spain. The 24-year-old will be paid a salary of close to £10m a year - about £200,000 a week - but the distribution of cash from commercial deals is still being debated. Madrid had expected to share his image rights 50-50; it is the business model they favour and is understood to have been agreed with Kaka. But Ronaldo's camp are reluctant to share earnings from deals signed with the likes of Nike and Banco Espirito Santo, even though he would receive a cut in return from the sale of Real Madrid merchandise bearing his name. Commercial earnings on this basis are inevitably variable but Madrid president Florentino Perez is reported to have moved to assure Ronaldo that he would earn at least another £2.75m a year from the club for his image rights. The two sides are expected to reach a deal, but Madrid are wary that they cannot give up too much ground if they are to meet their financial estimates that the huge transfer can be profitable. His prospective new employers want to present Kaka and Ronaldo together at the Bernabeu at the end of the month - likely to be June 29 or 30.

Source: Daily_Mail