Ronaldo the cheapest signing in history - ex-Madrid president

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 8 Dec 2021 18:41 GMT
• 3 min read

Former Real Madrid president has hailed Cristiano Ronaldo as the “cheapest” signing in the history of the club.

Real Madrid broke the world transfer record in 2009, splashing out an incredible €94 million to take the Portuguese superstar from Manchester United.

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This brought to an end a bitter transfer saga that lasted for over a year and saw some very public barbs exchanged.

In the end, Madrid got their man but, despite spending a fortune, Real Madrid’s president at the time Calderon believes it was a bargain.

What did Calderon say about Ronaldo?

“It was a unique opportunity that we could not miss and, though it was not easy to convince Manchester United, the decision of the player drove many things,” Calderon, who was president of Real Madrid from 2006 to 2009, told Diario AS.

“United were excessive, but listen, it turned out to be the cheapest hit in our history.”

Ronaldo enjoyed nine sensational years in the Spanish capital, inspiring the team to two La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues, two Copa del Rey trophies and three Club World Cups.

He scored a barely believable 450 goals in 438 games to surpass Raul and smash Real Madrid’s all-time goalscoring record.

Ronaldo left Madrid in the summer of 2018 in a shock move as he joined Italian giants Juventus.

However, despite then being 33 years of age, Madrid still managed to sell him for more money than they signed him for.

Juventus ended up paying €100m, plus €12m in add-ons, proving Calderon’s point that Ronaldo had indeed been a bargain.

After three successful years at Juventus in which he won two Scudetti and scored 101 goals, Ronaldo returned to Man Utd this past summer.