SPAIN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Christian Ronaldo extends his Real Madrid contract to 2018

Record ID: 184171

  • Title: SPAIN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Christian Ronaldo extends his Real Madrid contract to 2018
  • Date: 15th September 2013
  • Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (SEPTEMBER 15, 2013) (REUTERS) REAL MADRID FORWARD CRISTIANO RONALDO AND PRESIDENT FLORENTINO PEREZ ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF NEWS CONFERENCE / SCREEN DISPLAYING GOALS SCORED BY RONALDO
  • Embargoed: 30th September 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: General,People,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA9NFUQ3ZO1TY96Y3VTSCDYUI3F
  • Story Text: Real Madrid have moved to tie Cristiano Ronaldo to the club until the end of the 2017-18 season by agreeing a three-year contract extension with the prolific Portugal forward.
    The announcement of the deal on Sunday (September 15) ended speculation about a possible return to Manchester United in 2015 when his previous deal expired.
    Ronaldo left the English Premier League club in 2009 to join Real for what was then a world-record fee of 94 million euros ($125 million).
    Big-spending Real president Florentino Perez and the 28-year-old Ronaldo signed the new contract at the club's Bernabeu stadium and appeared before the media at a glitzy ceremony on the giant arena's VIP tribune.
    Neither Ronaldo, who said 2018 could mark the end of his career, nor Perez provided details about his salary, but Spanish media reported that his net annual wage would rise to 17 million euros, making him one of the world's best-paid players.
    Wearing a dark blue jacket, light shirt and blue patterned tie and with a jewelled stud glittering in each ear, Ronaldo admitted there had been interest from other clubs.
    "I respect the clubs who have knocked the door to ask something about me but they always know that my decisions and the president did know too that my only goal is always to be here and to play in this club for maybe until the end of my career," Ronaldo said. "But you know, the future nobody knows but I'm really happy here, now I've signed a new deal that I'm going to be here for five more years. So everything go well I just want to win trophies for this club."
    Ronaldo was also asked about United and he appeared to rule out a return to the city where he spent six years after joining from Sporting Lisbon in 2003.
    "Everyone knows that I was in Manchester (United) for six years and it was a club that give me many, many things, and I do not forget that," Ronaldo said. "But Manchester is the past, now my club it's the present is Real Madrid,. This is my home, my family is here and I'm really happy here."
    Ronaldo also admitted he had considered interest shown by Qatar-owned Ligue 1 side Paris St Germain.
    "No I did not think about it, perhaps I thought about it but it wasn't anything that kept me up at night, it wasn't anything that I wanted," he said. "What I wanted was to stay here in this club, in my opinion the best club in the world. If you leave (Real) Madrid there are no other teams to go. If you are on the top you have to stay on the top."
    Ronaldo's renewed commitment to Real is excellent news for the nine-times European champions and comes two days before they begin their latest bid for the 10th continental crown that has eluded them since 2002.
    Ronaldo will likely line up alongside record signing Gareth Bale, who eclipsed the Portuguese as the most valuable player in soccer when he joined from Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of 100 million euros this month, in Tuesday's (September 17) Champions League Group B opener at Galatasaray.
    Wales winger Bale scored on his Real debut in Saturday's 2-2 La Liga draw at Villarreal, while Ronaldo netted his 204rd goal in his 203rd official game for the Spanish giants.
    After the contracts were signed, Perez presented Ronaldo with a silver replica of the Cibeles fountain in central Madrid, where Real traditionally celebrate titles, before they were photographed with Ronaldo's beaming agent Jorge Mendes.
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