A Chinese club has decided to break the bank to secure the signature of the current best player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo with an irresistible offer.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Real Madrid were offered about £250 million (about N125 billion) by an unnamed Chinese club for Cristiano Ronaldo, according to the Portuguese player’s agent Jorge Mendes.
He however said the 31-year-old forward had no interest in the deal, which included an £85m (about N42bn) annual salary.
“From China, they’ve offered 300m euros (£257m) to Real Madrid and more than 100m euros per year to the player.
“But money is not everything. The Spanish club [Real] is his life.’’
The revelation comes after Carlos Tevez was reportedly made the world’s highest-paid footballer by Shanghai Shenua.
Shanghai, coached by ex-Brighton boss Gus Poyet, are reported to have agreed a deal worth £40m (about N20bn) for Tevez, including a salary in excess of £310,000 (about N155m) a week.
Under the offer claimed by Mendes, Ronaldo would have earned £1.6m (about N800m) a week.
It would have been a deal worth almost treble the world record transfer fee of £89m paid by Manchester United to Juventus for midfielder Paul Pogba.
“The Chinese market is a new market. They can buy a lot of players, but then again it is impossible to go for Ronaldo.
“Cristiano is the best player in the world and best ever. It is normal to have some offers,” said Mendes.
The Portugal captain said he could play for another 10 years after signing a new deal, which ties him to Madrid until June 2021, last month.