Cristiano Ronaldo is set to sign a new five-year contract with
Real Madrid before the end of this month, Goal can reveal.
Having sealed the world-record signing of Gareth Bale earlier in September, Madrid have now switched their attentions to tying up the Portuguese on a new, long-term deal.
Madrid have offered Ronaldo an increased wage of €15 million per annum after tax, with the agreement set to run until 2018, in
a total package worth a record €155m over five years.
As a total package, it is the most lucrative contract in football history and the game's largest annual wage following Samuel Eto'o's departure from Anzhi Makhachkala. By comparison, Bale will pocket €10m per annum after tax while Lionel Messi earns €13m per annum, plus bonuses, over five years.
The Portuguese's current contract concludes in 2015, but Madrid are confident their star player will sign by the end of September.
Ronaldo has told friends that talks are going well and Madrid hope to announce a new deal prior to the Assembly with club socios on September 22.
President Florentino Perez has consistently insisted the Portuguese will stay at the Santiago Bernabeu. "He is the best player in the world and we want to make him the world's highest-paid player," the construction magnate said earlier this summer. Like Mourinho, Cristiano considered a return to the Premier League (with Manchester United), but the departure of his compatriot, the added support of Perez and the good feeling with new coach Carlo Ancelotti have helped him rediscover his happiness in Madrid. "He [Ancelotti] is a great coach, a great man, and I am happy to work with him," the 28-year-old said last month.
Madrid signed Ronaldo from United in a world-record €94 million transfer in 2009, following Florentino's return to the presidency. He currently earns around €10m annually after tax.
When Ronaldo arrived, however, the so-called 'Beckham Law', which allowed foreigners who had lived in Spain for less than 10 years and who earned above €120,000 per annum to pay a lower tax rate of around 23 per cent and not the usual 45%, was still in force. David Beckham was one of the first to take advantage of the legislation after his move from Manchester in 2003.
However, the Spanish government has since scrapped that initiative and a new deal would see Ronaldo required to pay 52% of his salary to the taxman. Madrid will therefore be faced with an annual outlay close to €31m in order to pay the Portuguese the net €15m.
