After reading multiple articles from both Spanish & Italian journalists, the following is a thread on Ronaldo’s rocky relationship with Real Madrid & why he chose to leave the club. Before I go into detail about why Ronaldo left Real Madrid, it’s important to understand the tough relationship Ronaldo had with Real Madrid.
As many of you know, Ronaldo was going to sign for Real Madrid in 2008-09 but he promised Fergie another year. Ronaldo and Calderon(our club president at the time) agreed he would join in the next season (2009-10). The papers were already signed and Ronaldo was actually a Real Madrid player on December 12th 2008. All that was needed was an official announcement.
Strike #1
In January of 2009, Real Madrid held elections and Calderon stepped down. Perez became our club president in June of 2009 and his second term at Real began. Perez’s ego almost stopped the Real Madrid deal. Calderon says didn’t want to receive a player that he didn’t personally sign. Perez’s ego almost destroyed the deal between Ronaldo and Real Madrid.
This infuriated Ronaldo & Jorge Mendes. Imagine being in Ronaldo’s shoes. He was willing to give up Man U, a more successful team at the time, to play for his dream club Real Madrid. Both Ronaldo & Mendes were prepared to back out. Luckily Jugo Valdano stepped in and convinced Perez to put his pride aside and sign Cristiano Ronaldo. Before Ronaldo even signed for Madrid, he had a distrustful relationship with the Real Madrid board.
It wasn’t all love when Ronaldo joined. In 2010, the Spanish players had a problem with the way Ronaldo was treated at the club. They thought he was pampered. This was after the Spanish players won the 2010 World Cup. Reports claim that Jose Mourinho had to step in and convince the Spanish players to respect Cristiano Ronaldo. Over time the two parties began to get along but this proves that Ronaldo wasn’t fully accepted into the locker room in his first couple of years.
Fast forward to 2012 when Ronaldo said he was sad after Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Granada. It was perceived that it was about money, but it was deeper than that. Ronaldo’s sadness came from his feeling he didn’t have the club’s support. At the Uefa Best Player Award, Messi and Ineista were accompanied by their club President while Ronaldo was not. This made Ronaldo feel unsupported.
Strike #2
From 2012-2014, Ronaldo is content at the club and there are no signs of discontent. That all changed in 2015 as Cristiano Ronaldo admired Carlo Ancelotti. Despite his wishes to continue to work with Ancelotti, Perez fired him in 2015. Many Real Madrid players did not accept this decision and Ronaldo was infuriated with how the board was running. Especially after Di Maria’s departure.
From 2016-2018 is when the relationship between Ronaldo & Perez completely deteriorated. It all began when Perez told Mendes that Real Madrid would entertain offers for Ronaldo in January of 2016. This happened before Zidane was appointed and when Ronaldo was playing poorly under Benitez. Ronaldo understood that Perez was no longer protecting him.
At this time Ronaldo understood that Perez was trying to get rid of him or was trying to find a way to replace him. Ronaldo’s form suddenly increased & Real Madrid won the 2016 UCL. Perez knew he couldn’t sell Ronaldo. Real Madrid were forced to give Ronaldo an extension. Real Madrid continued to dominate Europe and were able to win the champions league two times in a row. According to Gulliem Balague, Ronaldo was promised an improved contract by Perez and would receive a higher pay.
The problem wasn’t money. Ronaldo asked Perez if Real Madrid could help pay for his tax debt but Perez was unwilling to meet this demand. Ronaldo and Perez battled for months but both parties couldn’t reach an agreement. At this point Ronaldo feels the club isn’t willing to help him out after all he’s done for the club. That still wasn’t the breaking point.
Ronaldo’s decision to leave Madrid came from two things that happened within the club. The first was Perez when asked Zidane to help rebuild Madrid. The only issue was that Perez urged Zidane not to INCLUDE RONALDO IN THE REBUILDING ERA. (Zidane Left eventually).
Perez wanted his prize possession Bale to lead the rebuilding era and Zidane was put into a tough spot. At this point Perez is trying to find a way to get rid of Ronaldo. Following this moment, Perez spoke to the media about Neymar. Perez said “If Neymar wants to win the Ballon D’or, he should play for Real Madrid”. This situation confirmed that Madrid were trying to replace Ronaldo.
Ronaldo now knew he no longer had the full support of the club. His decision to leave was made months ago. After Real Madrid’s UCL win in Kiev, Ronaldo said to the media that “I might’ve played my last game for Madrid “. In his mind, he no longer wanted to be a Madrid player. In conclusion, Ronaldo’s departure was an easy one for him. At Real Madrid he’s always had a rocky relationship with the board. He felt that he was no longer supported by Perez and that he wasn’t getting the respect he wanted.
Two egos collided between Perez and Ronaldo. Their relationship was so bad that they didn’t acknowledge each other at the Cibeles celebrations. In the end both parties got what they wanted. Perez got rid of an aging Ronaldo for over $100 million and Ronaldo left his dream club as a legend. Ultimately the two got tired of one another. Thank y’all for reading and thanks to @MadridistaHaven for this great content.