It has been reported that Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed an extension to his contract with Real Madrid and will earn more than Gareth Bale.
Reports in the Spanish media suggest that the former Manchester United ace has agreed terms on a new three-year extension to his deal, which would commit him to the club until the European summer of 2018.
It has also been reported that Ronaldo's salary has been increased to around 17m euros per year.
According to Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague, Ronaldo had agreed the extension before the season started, but wanted to ensure a few things before signing.
“He will renew his contract until 2018 and he will be the best-paid player in Spain, above Messi, on €17m (£14.2m) net, so we are entering a new phase of wage structures here,” said Balague.
“Obviously, there were one or two things that Cristiano Ronaldo had to make sure before he actually signed the contract, a contract that was agreed in the summer around mid-July.
“Florentino Perez said in L'Equipe that Ronaldo was going to stay at Real Madrid forever and he knew it because everything had been agreed, just not signed.
“Ronaldo wanted to see two things. No.1, the submission of the club to him in the sense that he wanted to feel as important as possible as the No.1, and I think he's felt that in the last few months.
“No.2, he wanted to see [Gareth] Bale coming and if he was going to earn more money than him, and if Real Madrid were going to pay more money for Bale than they paid for Cristiano.
“Well, Bale will earn less than €17m for sure, but this is where it gets funny as Real have always said they paid €91m for Bale, which is less than the €96m they paid for Cristiano, but in fact they paid €101m, so they were trying to twist the truth a little so that Cristiano didn't get upset.”
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