Cristiano Ronaldo 'was obsessed with Lionel Messi's salary'
Cristiano Ronaldo ‘was OBSESSED with Lionel Messi’s salary and cornered a Barcelona chief, who told him they were paying his on-field rival DOUBLE’… before the forward left Real Madrid for Juventus in a £500,000 per week deal
- Details of Cristiano Ronaldo’s falling out with Jorge Mendes have been revealed
- With Mendes, Ronaldo approached Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu
- Mendes’ answer led to his eventual departure away from the Bernabeu
Cristiano Ronaldo was ‘obsessed’ with the salary of Lionel Messi according to Spanish reports detailing his falling out with agent Jorge Mendes.
Mendes controversially split with Mendes last year shortly after the former Manchester United star’s explosive interview with Piers Morgan, criticising the Premier League outfit and leading to his exit at the start of the World Cup.
Since then the Portugal international has joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr in a move that will see the forward – who turns 38 next month – earn a cool £175million-a-year.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were long time rivals while at Real Madrid and Barcelona
Although on-field enemies the players have a mutual respect for each other’s abilities
Now in a report by El Mundo, it’s been claimed Ronaldo has long been concerned over finances compared with his rivals even while he was playing for Real Madrid.
The report claims that even if Ronaldo can’t claim that he is the best player then he wants to be the best paid player in ‘pathological behaviour.’
It adds that for years he was fixated on how much his on-field rival Lionel Messi was earning right up to the point he cornered Josep Maria Bartomeu at an awards ceremony.
In the company of Mendes he questioned the Barcelona president on how much he was paying Messi, before being told “I can’t tell you, but it’s more than double what they [Real Madrid] pay you.”
Ronaldo reportedly cornered then Barca president Josep Bartomeu (right) over Messi’s salary
The confrontation happened at an award ceremony and led to Ronaldo’s Real Madrid exit
Shortly after, Ronaldo left the club with his last match seeing him win the Champions League for the third consecutive season.
That summer he joined Juventus in a move worth £100m where he also increased his wages to £500,000 per week – or roughly £26.6m annually.
But it was against Mendes’s advice who wanted his client to stay at Madrid where he could go on to win two more Ballon d’Or awards – an achievement he hasn’t collected since leaving the Bernabeu.
The move appeared to show early cracks in the long running relationship between Ronaldo and Mendes that has spanned his senior career, with the agent a key figure in helping the forward join United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003.
Ronaldo split with long time agent Jorge Mendes after he failed to secure a Man United exit
Ronaldo left Manchester United after his controversial interview with Piers Morgan (right)
Although it was Mendes’s relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson that helped get the wheels in motion over his Old Trafford return in motion in 2021, the move turned sour less than a year later – as did Ronaldo’s relationship with Mendes.
Wanting out of United after their failure to qualify for the Champions League, Ronaldo demanded that Mendes secure him a move to Bayern Munich or Chelsea to keep alive his dream of winning Europe’s top prize again – or he would break up with his long time representative.
New Chelsea owner Todd Boehly was especially keen on the advantages Ronaldo could bring to Stamford Bridge, but then manager Thomas Tuchel was more guarded over his potential use on the pitch.
Bayern meanwhile had discussions over the Portuguese but CEO and former keeper Oliver Kahn admitted he would not fit the club’s philosophy.
Cristiano Ronaldo left demanded Jorge Mendes move him to Bayern Munich or Chelsea
Ronaldo split from the super agent last year before moving to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr
Despite initial interest from both clubs Ronaldo’s absence from United’s pre-season last summer appeared to put both sides off and no deal was forthcoming, leading to him being forced to stay at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo defended his absence, saying it was due to his daughter being ill and it came just three months after the death of his baby son.
A falling out with manager Erik ten Hag soon followed, while he was also dropped from the club’s starting XI leading to his infamous Piers Morgan interview and bitter divorce with the Premier League giants.
His move to Al-Nassr was done without any involvement from Mendes with Ronaldo’s personal manager Ricky Regufe brokering the deal instead, leaving his relationship with Mendes tatters.
Ronaldo finally made his debut for Al-Nassr on Sunday with the club’s 1-0 win over Ettifaq in the Saudi top flight.
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