Cristiano Ronaldo has already accomplished near on everything there is to achieve in football, making it all the more honourable that he is still playing at such an elite level at 37-years-old. Beginning his career at Sporting CP, Ronaldo burst onto the scene back in 2002. He made his league debut in September of that year and a week later scored a brace against Braga, helping Sporting to a 3-0 win.
He continued to impress over the course of the 02-03 season, attracting attention from some of Europe’s biggest clubs going as far as meeting with Arsene Wenger to discuss a possible transfer to Arsenal. Whilst that move never materialised, it was a pre-season friendly in August 2003 which would change the Portuguese icon’s career forever. After beating Manchester United 3-1 in the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade, then manager and now English football legend Sir Alex Ferguson was determined to sign him following his performance. He was even urged by his own players to snap up the youngster.
The transfer was rushed through such was Ferguson’s admiration of Ronaldo and on 12th August 2003 a deal worth £12.24m was completed, at the time making him the most expensive teenager in English football history. Ronaldo’s relationship with Ferguson has long been detailed by the forward who says of the Scottish coach “He’s been my father in sport, one of the most important and influential factors in my career.”
He would win three Premier League titles, a Champions League and an FA Cup among plenty of personal accolades during his six years in Manchester. He was United’s highest paid player of all time following his contract extension in 2007, where his pay was bumped to £120k per week.
It was around this time that he captained the Portuguese national team for the first time. He has continuously been Portugal’s talisman, lifting his first trophy with them in 2016 when they defeated France in the European Championship final. Their record goalscorer, Ronaldo’s performances have ensured that Portugal are among the favorites in the World Cup odds for this year’s tournament in Qatar.
After an incredible six years in Manchester he would then join Real Madrid in arguably the most high-profile transfer of all time for a then world record £80m. In turn, he became Madrid’s highest paid player earning a salary of around £9.5m per year and would later briefly become the highest paid player in the world when he signed a new contract worth around £15m per year.
His profile, whilst already high, skyrocketed during his time in Madrid and he became a megastar both in and outside of football. He signed numerous sponsorship deals worth tens if not hundreds of millions. Whilst he first signed with Nike in 2003, in 2016 he was awarded a lifetime deal by the sportswear company worth an incredible $1bn. He became just the third athlete to have signed such a deal alongside NBA stars Michael Jordan and Lebron James.
Brand deals with Herbalife, luxury watch brand Tag Heuer, DAZN and more followed, all elevating Ronaldo’s inflated fortune. He invested a lot into the eponymously named ‘CR7’ brand, releasing his own line of fragrances, partnering with hotel chain Pestana, own branded gyms and more.
Ronaldo left Madrid four Champions Leagues, two La Liga titles and five Ballon d’Or’s better off in search of a new challenge. In 2018 he moved to Italian giants Juventus after ‘The Old Lady’ paid an Italian record 100 million euros to secure his signature. He became the highest paid player in the history of Italian football, raking in an eyewatering £540k per week with his £31m yearly salary dwarfing the earnings of Juve’s second highest paid player at the time Matthis De Ligt, who earned £7.4m.
Although he spent three full and successful seasons in Italy, his wages eventually became an issue for Juve who could no longer afford to keep Ronaldo on the wage bill. The stars finally seemed to align for Manchester United fans and they welcomed him back after 12 years. The prodigal son had returned home for a fee of just £12m. The first 24 hours of Ronaldo’s shirt sales was reported to have broken the all-time record following a transfer, overtaking Messi after his move to Paris Saint-Germain.
He took a slight pay cut to re-join The Red Devils, though still earnt £500k per week. His career had come full circle and despite earning hundreds of millions throughout his career he was determined to carry on performing at the highest level possible.
Although it was perhaps not the fairytale ending that he and United fans would have liked, CR7 is now looking for a new club and is likely to once again be paid handsomely for his services. With a net worth of around $500m, he is one of the highest paid athletes on the planet and when looking at his highly decorated career it is easy to understand why.
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