i absolutely agree, manutd should break their wage structure in this case. it would be completely justified as we are speaking of the world’s by far best player. manchester united are a massive, massive club with many supporters around the world, and it would be a disgrace in my opinion if they lose out to madrid.

chelsea for example reward their most valued player with higher wages (exception: sheva ) and in the way football is run like a business these days, it’s only fair. how else is, for example arsenal, going to keep fabregas or adebayor from leaving the club to more lucrative opportunities?

to be honest i was quite surprised he didn’t leave manutd 2-3yrs ago. interests from abroad was there. it made me think that he was different, not the typical youngster who gets distracted from the football and indulges himself in the fame and glamour of playing abroad.

the only fear i have, is that the life in madrid will make football a secondary priority, whereas in manchester football will always be the main focus.

i would truly be disappointed if he decides to opt for “sunny life in madrid” as opposed to “footballing career in manchester”

I had no idea that he made so little in comparison to other players in his sport and players in other sports. The way I see it is.

Cristiano has mass appeal, not only on the pitch, but off it. He is highly marketable, and God only knows how much Manchester United are raking in on that merchandise. If Man. U. don’t smarten up, they will not only lose the best player on earth, but they will most likely lose many future championships and tons of cash.

Wake up Reds!

Being a big fan of Man. U., I have to agree with what most posters have said.

Cristiano deserves a new contract. One which pays him his worth.

I hate to say it, but I am at odds with the Reds on this.

bloody time that someone spoke truth, instead of all this tabloid crap that’s been floating around the web these last few weeks.

I think Patrick hit the nail right on the head.

I never noticed that, i agree with patrick

John Dykes, You have raised excellent points. We too fear that moving to Madrid may not be Ronny’s best choice as far as advancing his career.

Tysia and John, we were thinking the same thing, why aren’t they paying him more? it makes no sense to us… and it leads into Patrick’s statement about Manchester not showing loyalty to Cristiano where it counts.

Until Manchester publicly states that they are willing to renegotiate Ronny’s contract and make him the highest paid footballer, they will continue to make an impression that they aren’t 100% convinced of his pedigree. Ronny has to make the choices that he thinks are best for him, regardless of what any one of us think….. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail and Manchester and Ronny come to an understanding.

No, he should not earn more. The fact that you are comparing Football/Soccer to top salaries in other sports is just ridiculous. Each sport has its own unique blend of fans and markets that they can appeal to, most of the top earners an the top fifty list get the a substantial chunk, if not the majority of their money from endorsements and business deals, something you should keep in mind before making an uncorrelated and unfounded comparison between what Ronny earns and what other top athletes earn.

As for why he shouldnt get more money, you have to look at what Manchester United did/does for him. After working extensively with Ronaldo Sir Alex Ferguson has transformed our dear Ronny from a mediocre, overly emotional teen to a highly competent, highly skilled footballer. In addition to helping him become the best, Ronaldo preforms so well at Man Utd because of the structure that Ferguson has built, with many top names/performers as Rooney, Tevez, Giggs, etc to take pressure and attention off of Ronaldo I dare say he would not have nearly as many goals without the assistance of the all-star lineup.

I think that Ronaldo owes it to United to play hard and not cause disruptions over a few more million that he could be making, its a disgraceful and shameful show that highlights just how petty some professional athletes can become when they start thinking more about money and less about loyalty and love for the game.

Hey Jim,

We feel that your comments are a little exaggerated regarding our posting salaries of athletes from other sports. At no point did we state that Ronny should be the highest paid athlete, but the highest paid footballer.

We posted the salaries of athletes from other sports to make a point. The point is that, although Cristiano is arguably the best player in the world’s most watched sport, his salary is substantially less than other athletes’ in less globally known sports like American Football. And only slightly higher than Athletes in obscure and virtually unknown sports like Ice Hockey.

When we talk about football salaries, as you can see by our list, Cristiano the world’s best footballer, is currently in 8th spot behind players like Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack among others. Manchester United is sending a clear picture to Ronny that he isn’t as valued as they say he is.

In response to your second point, your comment that SAF “transformed our dear Ronny from a mediocre, overly emotional teen to a highly competent, highly skilled footballer”

First, although we don’t want to take anything from SAF, he is truly a great manager. With that said, SAF had very little to do with Ronny’s greatness. It’s well known that Carlos Queiroz has been instrumental in providing support to Cristiano as well as convincing Ronny to go back to Man Utd after the Rooney incident. So, if you really believe that Manchester is responsible for Ronny’s greatness then you should be thanking Queiroz.

But let’s backtrack a little and think back to SAF’s signing of Ronny from Sporting Lisbon. At that time, Manchester paid £12.00 million +, the highest ever for a teenager. Would SAF pay that kind of money for someone he thought was “mediocre”?.

To further elaborate on this. If Manchester thought that Ronny was mediocre and still paid an outrageous fee for him when he was virtually unknown, then why aren’t they paying him his worth now that he is the world’s greatest? The fact is Manchester knew the quality they were getting. To bring the point home, SAF has admitted Cristiano “is one of the best signings” he’s ever made, so clearly SAF doesn’t feel as you do. As for emotional teen, well that’s a given, that’s what teens do.

To address your other point that Ronaldo wouldn’t be great without the likes of players like “Rooney, Tevez, Giggs” to take “pressure and attention off” him. Well that’s what great players are paid to do, and that is to take pressure off of their star. A player of Ronny’s calibre will always play in top teams, and therefore he will always be assisted by other top players. That’s the world of team sports.

In response to your last point that “Ronaldo owes it to United to play hard and not cause disruptions over a few more million”. Cristiano never mentioned that he wants to leave because of the money. It’s his boyhood dream of playing for Madrid that motivates him. Who are you to question his dreams?

Sam, it’s you who’s got it wrong. The link that you provided is clearly showing Ronny’s projected wages on a revised contract worth about £140,000. Here’s a better link for you:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/04/02/ufnpaylist102.xml

ronaldo should getpaid loads he’s just arsome!!!!!

C.Ronmaldoooooo …esti cel mai tharee ..!!!!!!!Si cel mai BUN .!:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*the best .!I love you ..!

Stri, we respect your comments, but we disagree.

First, there is no wage structure in most professional sports. It’s all centered on negotiated contracts based on the perceived value, real or imagined of athlete who is negotiating the contract. This means that there is no limit on how much an athlete can potentially earn. It all comes down to what a sports club is willing to pay.

Second, the players that you specified aren’t equally as good as Cristiano, and all of the awards he’s won is proof enough. Ask any professional team who they would like on their team from the list you specified and I can assure you Ronaldo will be their selection. I’ll even go as far as saying that most teams would would add players like Terry and Gerrard as part of a package deal to secure Cristiano.

Lastly, Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t all flash, the tremendous season that he had last year is proof of that. You don’t score 42 goals with flash but with skill. He has accomplished feats and broken records that have remained for many many years, I don’t think that it’s fair to call that flash. Cristiano is the best footballer, bar none, give the man his the respect that he deserves.

srizzel, although we would love to agree with you, and wished that the world was based on some form of idealism as it related to ones love of something, it isn’t.

When you look at salaries of players you must take into consideration who is paying out these salaries. Teams like Manchester, Chelsea, Madrid, Inter etc etc would not be the teams they are today unless they had the funds to procure top athletes to take them to the top. It isn’t just the players who are winning, it’s the teams too.

Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t any different than athletes from across the sports spectrum . He’s trying to get the pay he deserves based on his accomplishments, and he’s not alone, all athletes do the same, some athletes are even blessed with great salaries without even earning them, see list on above post.

Hypothetically speaking, let’s assume that athletes weren’t paid a single dime to play, do you believe that these players would risk injuring themselves day in and day out for love? Do you think they would dedicate grueling training sessions and curfews and all of the other restrictions imposed upon them by their clubs? How would professional football be today if players didn’t feel that they could give every ounce of themselves to the sport without fearing losing their daytime job? For that matter, would managers like Sir Alex be coaching, when there is no money to be made?

The point is, the reason professional sports are as dazzling as they are is because of the money that’s there to back it up. The post above was simply to demonstrate that Cristiano is underpaid when compared to athletes who aren’t half as good as he is.

I AGREE WITH THE MAJORITY OF YOU I SHOULD GET PAID MORE ITS REDICULOUS 12.7 MILLION 120000POUNDS A WEEK THAT IS A JOKE I NEED AT LEAST 200000 POUNDS PER WEEK TO BE MAKING HISTORY AS THE WORLDS FIRST 200000 POUND PER WEEK PLAYER. THIS WAY I CAN BUY A NEW FERRARI 599GT WEEKLY AND CRASH INTO A WALL…. IVE WON SO MANY AWARDS FOR EXAMPLE… BEST DIVER
Club

Manchester United
Premier League: 2006–07, 2007–08
FA Cup: 2003–04
League Cup: 2005–06
FA Community Shield: 2007
UEFA Champions League: 2007–08
FIFA Club World Cup: 2008

Individual
UEFA Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament
FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year: 2004–05, 2005–06
Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 2006–07
UEFA Team of the Year: 2003–2004, 2006–07
FIFPro World XI: 2006–07, 2007–08
PFA Young Player of the Year: 2006–07
PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2006–07, 2007–08
PFA Fans’ Player of the Year: 2006–07, 2007–08
PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2006–07, 2007–08
Barclays Player of the Season: 2006–07, 2007–08
Barclays Player of the Month: November–December 2006, January 2008, March 2008
Barclays Golden Boot: 2007–08
Barclays Merit Award: 2007–08
European Golden Shoe: 2007–08
UEFA Club Forward of the Year: 2007–08
UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2007–08
FIFPro World Player of the Year: 2007–08
Ballon d’Or: 2008

Orders
Officer of the Order of Infante D. Henrique
Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
OH AND ON JANUARY 23RD THE FIFA WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR 1ST SECOND AND THIRD SPOT

THANK YOU TO ALL MY FANS I WILL CONTINUE TO CRY AND DIVE AND SCORE GOALS FOR YOU. I LOVE ALL AND HOPEFULLY MANUNTD WILL GET HEAD OUT THE ARSSS AND SATISFY MY POCKET BOOK

oh give me a break.. the best player in the world? pfft.. for the past couple of years.. WHAT A JOKE!!
to all of you ronaldo fans out there.. enjoy his 15 minutes in the spotlight. trust me, it wont last long.
Most people are just bandwagon jumpers. if the media stopped giving into him then he would be just like any other player.

CRISTIANO RONALDO GETS PAID TOO MUCH!!!!!!!

there are many many other players out there who should get paid more.
the fact is.. manchester is smart not wasting more of their money on him. they have him right where they want him so why pay him more than he deserves?

seriously.. if he was the best player in the world then he WOULD GET PAID like he was the best in the world.

Kaka for example is THE best player in the world and he gets paid like it.

Cristiano is the most arrogant, self indulgent, egotistical, narcissistic, step-over wasting footballer i have ever heard of.

give us all a break and stop sticking up for someone who doesnt deserve it.

he is sucking this season. dont make excuses because you all know its true.

ONE thing that makes a footballer world class is consistency. ronaldo is too much of a whiny baby to take responsibility for his actions.

P.S. no matter what he says he is NOT invincible. And to that thing that he said about how he should get first, second, and third for world player of the year.. thats just rubbish.

lol?? where is MESSI?? his one of highest paid…