Inside the mind of Chinese Super League chiefs right now
In a strong field, this represents a serious contender for "most depressing sport story of 2016".
The fact a Chinese Super League team would try to sign Cristiano Ronaldo should, on its own, not come as surprise… but that doesn't make it any less distressing. The Ballon d'Or winner's agent, Jorge Mendes has confirmed that an unnamed club in China have made a €300million offer for the Real Madrid superstar's signature.
Fortunately, it's not going to happen. Mendes confirmed "the Spanish club is [Ronaldo's] life". However, we can think of several reasons the offer alone is bad news for all football fans…
1. The ridiculous amount of money involved
A transfer bid of THREE HUNDRED MILLION EUROS?
This mystery offer for CR7™ equates to £257million. That is nearly three times the existing world record transfer fee for a footballer - the £89million Man United paid for Paul Pogba.
That's an absurd sum… but not as ridiculous as the wages apparently being waved under Ronnie's nose. According to Mendes, a potential salary of €100million per year is on offer. That's £85million, or £1.7million PER WEEK.
To put that in context, you could add together the current wages of Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, Gareth Bale, Neymar and Wayne Rooney and you STILL wouldn't get near that ridiculous figure.
Yuck.
2. The thought of the world's best footballer going from the Champions League winners to playing at the same level as Gervinho and Gael Kakuta
Unacceptable. Its totally unacceptable ON ANY LEVEL.
3. The idea that money will always win
Whoever made this offer thought that the world's best player, who just won the world's most prestigious individual award, would give up playing for one of the world's most successful clubs… simply because of the money on offer.
If that ever happens, football really is screwed. Not least because…
4. The fear of the floodgates opening
Say Ronaldo DID decide to move to China and take the cash offered, he would be giving himself a new challenge.
Every other high-profile player on the planet would then have the perfect excuse to switch competitive, top-level football for the big money of the Chinese Super League. The moment their motivation was questioned, you can imagine their immediate response:
"Hey, if it's good enough for Cristiano, it's good enough for me."
*shudder*
5. The insane gloating of Lionel Messi fans if it were to ever happen
The worst thing yet about Ronaldo joining a Chinese Super League club?
Forget all the stuff above. The number one most unbearable thing about it would be the constant, unending, smug social media gloating of Lionel Messi fans.
"Leo would never take the money. Leo would never sell out like that. Leo would never value cash ahead of his legacy…"
For all our sakes, Cristiano - DON'T EVER DO IT.
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