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Ronaldo insists he is focused on winning
Source: AFP |
September 14, 2012, Friday
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CRISTIANO Ronaldo says he is focused on winning for Real Madrid and not on his contract, beating down speculation that he is unhappy with his reported 10-million-euro (US$13 million) salary.
Ronaldo shocked fans last week by declaring he was "sad" at the Spanish league champion without explaining why, except to insist later that it had nothing to do with money.
"I would like to reaffirm, without being concerned about contracts, that my focus is solely on winning every game and every available trophy with the essential company of my teammates and all madridistas," Ronaldo said on Facebook.
Spanish media have speculated that Ronaldo's real gripe is his level of pay compared to other top players worldwide.
Top-selling Spanish sports daily Marca said this week that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was ready to offer him a "substantial" pay increase and an extension in his contract, without citing its source.
Marca claimed Ronaldo wanted 15 million euros a year.
The paper says the star forward now earns 10 million euros and is 10th in the list of the world's best-paid footballers, with Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o of Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala on 20 million euros and new Paris Saint-Germain recruit Zlatan Ibrahimovic on 14.5 million euros.
Ronaldo, who joined Real Madrid on July 1, 2009, still has three years to run on his initial six-season contract.
Speculation that Ronaldo was unhappy with his salary did not go down well with fans in Spain, which is in a deepening recession with one in four workers unemployed.
A cartoon on a rival Barcelona fans' Internet site shows two men sitting at a bar.
One says to his friend: "Poor Cristiano, he's never had the luck to work in construction or in a mine." His friend replies: "If I wasn't unemployed I would scrape together some money for him."
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has refused to comment.
"I am not going to say anything about that," the Portuguese coach told AS last week. "Don't ask me about Cristiano. You have to understand. Please don't insist."
Ronaldo shocked fans last week by declaring he was "sad" at the Spanish league champion without explaining why, except to insist later that it had nothing to do with money.
"I would like to reaffirm, without being concerned about contracts, that my focus is solely on winning every game and every available trophy with the essential company of my teammates and all madridistas," Ronaldo said on Facebook.
Spanish media have speculated that Ronaldo's real gripe is his level of pay compared to other top players worldwide.
Top-selling Spanish sports daily Marca said this week that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was ready to offer him a "substantial" pay increase and an extension in his contract, without citing its source.
Marca claimed Ronaldo wanted 15 million euros a year.
The paper says the star forward now earns 10 million euros and is 10th in the list of the world's best-paid footballers, with Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o of Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala on 20 million euros and new Paris Saint-Germain recruit Zlatan Ibrahimovic on 14.5 million euros.
Ronaldo, who joined Real Madrid on July 1, 2009, still has three years to run on his initial six-season contract.
Speculation that Ronaldo was unhappy with his salary did not go down well with fans in Spain, which is in a deepening recession with one in four workers unemployed.
A cartoon on a rival Barcelona fans' Internet site shows two men sitting at a bar.
One says to his friend: "Poor Cristiano, he's never had the luck to work in construction or in a mine." His friend replies: "If I wasn't unemployed I would scrape together some money for him."
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has refused to comment.
"I am not going to say anything about that," the Portuguese coach told AS last week. "Don't ask me about Cristiano. You have to understand. Please don't insist."
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