<<Print>>

CRISTIANO RONALDO has waited 11 months for Real Madrid to give him a new deal � now he can force his way out in the summer. Just like he did when he was at Manchester United. And it�s ironic how the Ronaldo story can come full circle as boss Sir Alex Ferguson wants the prodigal son back at Old Trafford. His �810million get-out clause gives Madrid the upper hand. Or does it? This summer, Ronaldo will have two years left on his contract. Snub a new deal and, get-out clause or not, Madrid will have to accept a much lower fee. In 2009, United lost their battle to keep Ronaldo who forced a move for a world-record �80m fee. Now the boot is on the other foot. How amusing that must be for Fergie, if nothing else. Frustrated Ronaldo watched Lionel Messi land a new six-year deal at Barcelona worth over �100m. The winger was promised a new contract himself in January by Real president Florentino Perez. But it has yet to be signed and last week Madrid were playing catch-up, saying Ronaldo will get a six-year deal worth up to �25m a season. It may be too late. Ronaldo has told former United team-mates he wants to return and Madrid officials have already discussed a transfer fee they would accept � around �122m. Real would effectively bank around �272m if you include the �150m in wages they would have had to pay Ronaldo. It�s better than nothing in 2015 when Ronaldo will be 30 and available for free. Naturally it will never come to that but how has it all come to this? Ronaldo lived the Bernabeu dream by joining his �boyhood� team but that all seems a long time ago. Ronaldo has not felt valued in Madrid for some time. He is still on his original Real contract, while Messi has signed SIX new deals at Barca in seven years. In addition, the winger has never felt the club support his quest to be crowned FIFA�s Player of the Year. The Ballon D�Or means everything to the Portuguese star � it is what drives him. But Perez did not attend the UEFA Champions League draw when Barcelona�s Andres Iniesta picked up the Best Player in Europe award last August. Barca president Sandro Rosell was there to watch his own star collect the trophy and Ronaldo admitted he was �sad�. It was the final straw. No new deal and no support to win individual accolades made Ronaldo explode. Fergie cunningly said last week that �Ronaldo is as good as Messi� � giving the winger the praise he feels he does not get from his own club. And United�s Patrice Evra chipped in by saying if he came back he would �win the Ballon D�Or�. The Portugal superstar has scored an incredible 170 goals in 170 matches for Madrid. But new Spanish laws will increase income tax from 24 per cent to 52 per cent meaning that Real would effectively have to double Ronaldo�s wages to keep his take home pay approximately the same. They failed to offload Kaka (on the same wages as Ronaldo) in the summer to free up that extra money. Last week, they finally realised that they are on the verge of losing Ronaldo � and panicked. They have finally realised their star asset feels they have taken him for granted. At least the man he loves the most in football is ready to welcome him back. All it would take for Ferguson to land his target is to tell Ronaldo: �Don�t sign a new deal. Force your way out.� After all, Real used the same tactics to snatch Ronaldo when former president Ramon Calderon even publicly urged him to go on strike at one point when he was still at United. United raised �150m by floating 10 per cent of the club on the New York Stock Exchange last summer. Half of it went towards the club�s �434m debt of the club but American owners � the Glazer family � could decide to put some of the rest towards a deal that would be a big hit with the club s legion of fans. Sweet revenge is looming and Ferguson may yet pull off the most stunning coup of all time.