According to estimates, Cristiano Ronaldo will miss out on about £5 million in performance-related bonuses at the end of his first season back at Manchester United. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner inspired much excitement when he returned to the Red Devils from Juventus at the start of the season, but he has struggled to live up to expectations in recent months.
Ronaldo had a great start to the season, but he recently went six games without scoring and has only reached the back of the net four times since the start of the new year. Fans and commentators alike have chastised the 37-year-old for his on-pitch demeanor, and he has been demoted to the bench on occasion by Ralf Rangnick due to his lack of form.
The Portuguese attacker was forced to take a significant salary cut in order to rejoin United after earning roughly £800,000 per week at Juventus. Ronaldo is now paid around £450,000 per week at Old Trafford, but he chose to negotiate a number of big add-ons to make up the gap.
However, the majority of his performance-related bonuses have already been deducted as a result of United’s underwhelming performance in all competitions this season. According to the Daily Star, Ronaldo will lose at least £5 million since he failed to meet the additional stipulations in his two-year deal.
According to the article, Ronaldo would have earned roughly £2.5 million if United had defeated Atletico Madrid earlier this month to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals. The Red Devils were eventually knocked out of Europe’s most prestigious tournament on home soil, losing to a narrow second-leg defeat at Old Trafford to Diego Simeone’s side.
A variety of other Premier League-related personal bonuses, ranging from winning the title to finishing in the top four, may cost Ronaldo an additional £2.5 million if they are not satisfied. It remains to be seen if United will be able to qualify for next season’s Champions League between now and the end of the season, with Arsenal and Tottenham poised to put up stiff competition for fourth place.
Meanwhile, former Liverpool defender and current Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher recently encouraged United to sell Ronaldo in order to recover much-needed balance and team cohesion ahead of next season. “The next United manager will confront the same challenges as Rangnick in attempting to keep him happy,” Carragher wrote in his Telegraph column.
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“Last August, I concluded that re-signing Ronaldo would likely cause more problems for United than it would solve. If his return to United is restricted to a single season, letting him go will solve more problems than it would create.”
