Christiano Ronaldo threatens to leave Real Madrid over tax evasion plans

Cristiano Ronaldo 

Cristiano Ronaldo has stunned Real Madrid by telling them he wants to leave the club over allegations of tax evasion, The Times has learnt.

Prosecutors accused Ronaldo this week, the four-times Ballon d’Or winner, of defrauding the Spanish authorities of €14.8 million ($AUS22m). The tax authorities claimed that Ronaldo, the former Manchester United forward, used a company in the Virgin Islands to “create a screen in order to hide his total income from Spain’s tax office”.

Reports in Portugal yesterday suggested that Ronaldo was so furious at being labelled a tax dodger that he has decided he wants to leave Spain.

When approached by The Times, sources close to the Portuguese star confirmed that was the case. It is understood that Ronaldo feels “great indignation” at his treatment and sees himself as a “victim of persecution” in Spain and is therefore minded to leave the country.

The 32-year-old, who is satisfied that he has paid all his taxes, is said to be “very, very mad” with the investigation and thinks it would be better for him to join a club outside Spain.

Keen to land a player of Ronaldo’s stature, Chinese Super League clubs have already made their interest known, but the Portuguese is understood to favour staying in Europe. Paris Saint-Germain, the wealthy Ligue 1 club, are understood to be interested.

Ronaldo would consider a return to United, with whom he spent six years before joining Real Madrid. However, the revelation about Ronaldo’s apparent desire to leave the Bernabeu is being treated with a hint of scepticism by senior figures at Old Trafford.

They believe Ronaldo could be trying to force Real Madrid into handing him a new contract, even though the forward signed a new deal last November, which runs until 2021.

The release clause in Ronaldo’s contract is €1 billion (about $1470m), but the player’s advisers do not expect Real Madrid to demand that sum if they agree to sell.

Ronaldo hopes the prospect of having an unhappy player on theirbooks would persuade Real Madrid to sell him for less.

They are still likely to demand a world-record fee, however, given that Ronaldo was voted the best player in the world by his peers last season after scoring 53 goals in 51 matches for club and country.

Ronaldo turns 33 in February, but is still in good physical shape. Any suitor will be aware of the star’s immense commercial value too.

That would clearly be of interest to United, but it remains to be seen whether they will make a move for the forward, who has always maintained a healthy relationship with his former club since leaving in 2009.

It should be noted that Ronaldo did not feature in Jose Mourinho’s transfer shortlist for this summer, which he handed to Ed Woodward, the club’s executive vice-chairman, in April.

Woodward has already made reasonable progress in procuring the four targets that Mourinho has asked for, with Victor Lindelof, the Sweden defender, the first to complete a move. The 22-year-old finalised his £31 million ($52m) transfer from Benfica on Wednesday, and the fee could rise to £39.6 million ($66m) based on add-ons, one of which will be paid to Benfica if Lindelof makes the FIFPro team of the year during his contract at United, which runs until 2021. United are pressing ahead with their bid to sign Ivan Perisic even though they are still £14 million ($23.5m) short of Inter Milan’s asking price.