The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Madrid, Spain | AFP |
A day after signing a bumper fresh contract with Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo has boosted his mind-boggling earnings with a new deal with Nike, the American sports giant said on Tuesday.
Together the multimillion mega-deals are expected to cement Ronaldo’s status as the world’s highest-paid sportsman, ahead of great Barcelona rival Lionel Messi.
According to American magazine Forbes, Ronaldo trumped Messi in 2016 with an income of $88 million (80 million euros, £71 million).
There are no concrete figures, but Ronaldo’s new five-year contract with Real is expected to net the 31-year-old Portuguese forward in the region of a basic salary of 25 million euros a year.
He could also bag up to 40 million euros a year for the Nike deal, according to Marca.
New wheels, same results. ?? #Mercurial
New boots ? ? https://t.co/E2zLOUFGP6 pic.twitter.com/tgSIWDQU2z— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) November 8, 2016
Marca and AS, the Spanish sports dailies, said the Nike deal is for life, rather like the one between Nike and basketball legend Michael Jordan.
“I have a great relationship with this brand, I have great friends here in the company,” Ronaldo said in a Nike press release announcing a “new, long-term contract”.
“We work as a family too,” he added.
“This is my brand.”
Ronaldo on Monday signalled his intention to keep playing for 10 more years after rounding off a “dream year”.
The three-time World Player of the Year has enjoyed his most successful year at a collective level, scoring the winning penalty as Madrid won the Champions League for an 11th time in May before captaining Portugal to their first major tournament win at Euro 2016.
