Why Cristiano Ronaldo to Atletico Madrid could now be possible
Karan Tejwani
- 21 Jul 2022 16:51 BST
- 3 min read
Cristiano Ronaldo is adamant on leaving Manchester United and there could be a way out for him through an old rival of his.
In recent weeks, his agent Jorge Mendes has been offering his client to the Madrid side, and they have been exploring the possibility of signing him from Manchester United.
Although many clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich have rejected the opportunity to sign Ronaldo due to high costs and the tactical fit, Atletico Madrid are open to the idea.
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It was reported that Mendes met with Atletico Madrid officials early in July to discuss the possibility of the deal and the club will have to make some sales to accommodate it.
Simeone open to signing Ronaldo
Ronaldo wants to play Champions League football, which is one of the factors drawing him towards the Spanish club, and something Manchester United can’t offer.
Diego Simeone is also keen to bring him to the Metropolitano, as he believes the Portuguese can have a big impact and drive the club towards some trophies.
The club have said that they would not be willing to break their salary structure for any player, which initially ruled out any possibility of Ronaldo’s move.
😅 Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 25 goals in 37 career appearances against Atletico Madrid, including four hat-tricks pic.twitter.com/0ytJiwg5fh
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 21, 2022
However, Mendes has made it clear that Ronaldo would be willing to slash his wages by about 30 percent in order to leave Manchester United this summer.
Atletico Madrid do need to sell players in order to be able to afford Ronaldo – it’s believed that they need to make up about €40 million before they can consider the opportunity.
Atletico have considered a few players to sell, including Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann, who is on loan from Barcelona but the club have an option to buy for €40 million should he play 15 La Liga games this season.
Moving to Atletico Madrid would be a controversial transfer, seeing as Ronaldo had a history with their rivals Real Madrid, having spent nine years there between 2009 and 2018, becoming their all-time top goalscorer.
