REAL MADRID FINALIZE CRISTIANO RONALDO SIGNING

Real Madrid’s acquisition of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, first reported earlier this month, is now a done deal.  The formal agreement will be entered into on July 1^st, and Ronaldo will be introduced to Madrid fans on July 6^th with accompanying media hoopla.  While there are reportedly a number of other high priced transfers in the works, Ronaldo’s 80 million pound transfer fee ($112 million US) is for the moment at least a record.

Man U confirmed that they accepted the bid for the deal, and on Friday Real Madrid posted the following statement on their website:

"Real Madrid and Manchester United have signed a final agreement for the transfer of the rights of Cristiano Ronaldo from July 1. The player will be tied to Real Madrid for the next six seasons and will be presented on July 6 at the Santiago Bernabeu."

While Ronaldo’s compensation hasn’t been made public, the Times of London reported earlier this month that he’ll enjoy a hefty pay raise.  The newspaper reported he’ll earn a base salary of 9.5 million pounds for next season.  The paper further indicated that he’d be signing a six year deal with a reported 25% increase in salary for each year of the contract.  For the life of the deal, Ronaldo will pocket 107 million pounds or just under $150 million US.  They also quoted Ronaldo indicating that the agreement was all but finalized at that point:

''I have had my time at Man United. It's time to look forward and £80m is quite a sum of money. This deal is historic. It’s flattering when two of the top teams in the world want you to play for them. Now I can look forward to Real Madrid and a new stage in my career. I learned of the deal here in LA and heard from my people that United had accepted.''

It’s well known that Ronaldo came close to signing with Madrid last summer, but was convinced by Man U manager Sir Alex Ferguson to stay at Old Trafford for another season.  More recently, former Madrid president Ramon Calderon suggested that a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between the relevant parties had existed for months. 

Real Madrid under their new president Florentino Perez has gone on an unprecedented spending spree.  Reportedly backed by a huge line of credit from Spanish banking giant Banco Santander, Madrid has already signed Brazilian striker Kaka away from AC Milan and Spanish superstar Raul Albiol from Valencia.  Other acquisitions are reportedly in the works, as well as an effort by Madrid to turn over some of their existing roster.

Defections away from the English Premier League may become more frequent due to a change in British tax law, meaning that players playing in England could end up paying over twice as much in income taxes as they would anywhere else in Europe.  This has caused some grumbling among the soccer mad Brits, with some suggesting that a special dispensation be given to ‘footballers’ exempting them from the higher tax rate.