Krishnan Sreekumar
Forward Cristiano Ronaldo will miss out on £5m worth of bonuses after another trophyless Manchester United season
According to The Sun, Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo is set to miss out on some massive bonuses from his contract at the club after the Old Trafford side went yet another season without winning any silverware.
After crashing out of the Champions League earlier in the month to the hands of Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16 stage of the competition, the Red Devils are set to finish the campaign without a trophy. This marks the fifth year of the club going trophyless.
They re-signed Ronaldo last summer to help them win titles once again, with the Portugal skipper joining from Juventus on a heavily bonus-related contract in order to counter a hefty drop in his £750,000-a-week salary. Thus far, that has not gone according to plan.
Winning trophies is something that comes as second nature to Ronaldo, with the forward being heavily successful at his previous clubs in Real Madrid and Juventus. Even in his first spell at Old Trafford, the Portuguese superstar won multiple league titles and cup competitions.
Bonuses missed out on
Amongst the many bonuses that are inserted into his current deal with United, the heftiest loss suffered by Ronaldo will be the failure to make the final of the Champions League, which has set him back a reported £2.5m. Slipping behind in the Premier League table has not helped either, which will see him lose up to £1.5m.
In good news for the 37-year-old, he will still trigger a sizeable bonus if he ends the season as United’s top scorer. With only Bruno Fernandes even close to reaching Ronaldo in the scoring charts at the club, there is little doubt that the ex-Real Madrid man will earn his well-deserved package. Thus far, he has scored 18 goals in 33 matches.
Having finished second in the Premier League last term, many expected Ronaldo’s arrival at the beginning of the season to make up the gap to first place and also fire them to success in cup competitions.
None of these plans has gone well for United, given that they are out of all the domestic and European competitions at this stage in the season, and are currently sitting in sixth place in the league table, in danger of missing out on the Champions League next campaign.
Failure to win the FA Cup and League Cup has also hurt Ronaldo’s wallet, but with a new manager coming in next season, there lies an opportunity to put this season’s losses behind him and aim for glory next term.
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Hopefully, his goals in the remaining weeks ensure that we finish in the top four and he gets to pocket his bonuses in the new season. Missing out on a UCL is also likely to ensure he loses his bonuses, so that may be playing on his mind in order to see us end the campaign strongly and set up well for the 2022/23 season.
A player like CR7, who was the third highest-paid athlete in the world in 2021 according to Forbes, probably doesn’t need monetary incentives to propel his performances. His hunger and desire to win is second to none and he is sure to bounce back after this season.
