Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 for a then-record €94 million fee. The Portugal international already had a Ballon d’Or to his name and was widely hailed as one of the two best players of his era, alongside Lionel Messi. Manchester United were not willing to let their best player leave, but ultimately heeded the player’s wishes.

Revealing the nitty-gritty of one of the most important transfers in football history, Calderon, who oversaw the majority of the operation, said (via El Confidencial):

Calderon revealed that Real Madrid signed an agreement with Cristiano Ronaldo that would see the defaulter of the deal pay €30 million to the other party. He disclosed the details, adding that he was surprised that the club did not take a similar approach with Kylian Mbappe.

Calderon added:

Mbappe was widely tipped to join Real this summer, but then backed away and instead chose to renew his contract with PSG.

Cristiano Ronaldo will go down as a bargain in Real Madrid’s history

Real Madrid made Ronaldo the most expensive player in history back in 2019. However, given the way he performed for Los Blancos over the next nine years, it would not be wrong to call him a bargain buy.

Ronaldo brought his unmatched winning mentality to the Santiago Bernabeu, helping them hold their ground against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. He scored 17 goals in the 2013-14 Champions League campaign, leading the way as Real Madrid finally won their 10th UCL title (La Decima).

He was by far their best performer as they won three consecutive Champions League trophies between 2016 and 2018. The 37-year-old also won two La Liga titles and one Copa del Rey, amongst a plethora of other honors during his time in Madrid.

The club’s record goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo scored a whopping 451 goals for Real Madrid in 438 appearances before leaving for Juventus in 2018.

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