Cristiano Ronaldo signalled an ambition to finish his career at Real Madrid after signing a new deal that ties him to the club for the next five years.
Ronaldo was pictured on Real Madrid TV on Sunday signing his new deal, alongside president Florentino Perez, before fronting a press conference at the Bernabeu. The 28-year-old Portuguese forward, whose previous deal had been due to run out in 2015,
expressed delight at agreeing terms after speculation in the summer he could be tempted back to Manchester United. But the possibility of a sensational return to Old Trafford, where he is still appreciated four years
after his departure, seems remote after Ronaldo stressed the Spanish capital is where he wants to stay. "I'm really happy here," he said. "I'll be here five more years. I just want to win trophies for this club. "I appreciate the fans like me a lot to be here. I'm happy, I want to give my best on the pitch. "I will be honest with you - everyone knows I was in Manchester for six years. Manchester is in the past. "Now my club is Real Madrid. This is my home, my family is here and I'm really happy here. "I respect all the clubs who ask about me. But they always know that my decision, that my only goal is to be here and to play at this club until, maybe, the end of my career. "The future nobody knows."
The 28-year-old had been linked with a move away from the Bernabeu following the arrival of Gareth Bale during the summer transfer window. The 100m-euro fee Real paid to Tottenham for the Wales winger eclipsed the previous world-record of 94m euros they splashed out to lure
Ronaldo away from United in 2009.
Ronaldo has scored a remarkable 203 goals in 203 appearances for the Spaniards, helping them secure the King's Cup in 2011 and the La Liga
title in the 2011/12 season.
Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague says that Ronaldo had agreed the extension in the summer, but wanted to wait before signing the deal. When asked if the deal was a reaction to Real's world record signing of Bale, Balague told Sky Sports News: "Not exactly. "He will renew his contract until 2018 and he will
be the best-paid player in Spain, above Messi, on €17m (£14.2m) net, so we are entering a new phase of wage structures here. "Obviously, there were one or two things that Cristiano Ronaldo had to make sure before he
actually signed the contract, a contract that was agreed in the summer around mid-July. "Florentino Perez said in L'Equipe that Ronaldo was going to stay at Real Madrid forever and he
knew it because everything had been agreed, just not signed. "Ronaldo wanted to see two things: No.1, the
submission of the club to him in the sense that he wanted to feel as important as possible as the No.1, and I think he's felt that in the last few
months. "No.2, he wanted to see Bale coming and if he was going to earn more money than him, and if Real Madrid were going to pay more money for Bale than they paid for Cristiano.
"Well, Bale will earn less than €17m for sure, but this is where it gets funny as Real have always said they paid €91m for Bale, which is less than the €96m they paid for Cristiano, but in fact they
paid €101m, so they were trying to twist the truth a little so that Cristiano didn't get upset."