Never has a short sentence caused "so much commotion" as Cristiano Ronaldo's "I'm sad," according to MARCA. Few were aware that Ronaldo was "in possession of a bombshell that was just waiting to be dropped." Even Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez and right-hand man José Ángel Sánchez were "totally shocked" when Ronaldo asked to speak to them on Saturday. The Portuguese striker does not feel he has the support of the club, his teammates or the fans. He is disappointed with Real Madrid's "lack of support as a club" in his quest for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, and also because of "other small details that other clubs do for their star players, which he does not have" (MARCA, 9/4). ELCONFIDENCIAL's José Félix Díaz reported that Real Madrid "feels betrayed" by Ronaldo. However, the feeling does not come from the player's desire to leave the club, but from "the timing of the communication." After telling Perez he wanted to leave, the President responded, "Why are you telling us this now, with the transfer market already closed and without any possibilities to react?" Madrid can only sell Ronaldo to markets like France and Russia, "which continue to be open" until Thursday, but they cannot buy any players with the Spain transfer window having closed on Friday. Had this occurred seven days prior, "Ronaldo currently would not be a Real Madrid player" (ELCONFIDENCIAL.com, 9/4).
AT A BREAKING POINT: In London, Mark Ogden wrote that "while it would be simple to suggest that Ronaldo's relationship with Real is now at a breaking point, few in Spain expect him to leave." Madrid has a €1B ($1.3B) buy-out clause inserted into the Portuguese's €10M ($12.6M) annual contract, which does not expire until June '15. With that kind of buy-out clause, even Man City "will not be pursuing Ronaldo" (TELEGRAPH, 9/3). AS' Manu Sainz reported that Ronaldo "sought to calm the situation" as he met up with the Portugal squad ahead of their World Cup Qualifier against Luxembourg. Ronaldo said, "Every problem has a solution" (AS, 9/4). AS' Ricky Romero reported that Barcelona spokesperson Toni Freixa "did not speak about the differences" that Ronaldo has with Real Madrid. Freixa said, "Here in Barcelona everybody is very happy." He added, "If a player wants to talk about his contract we completely understand. We will sit down and talk and there will be no conflict of any type" (AS, 9/4).
ONLINE REACTION: Sportune.fr reported that in the past 24 hours the Twitter hashtag #CristianoEstáTristePorque (#CristianoIsSadBecause) is one of the top trending hashtags in Spain. Two of the most popular re-tweeted reasons were @ceGattuso's "The price of hair gel suddenly increased 21%" and @Mr_Mosby's "There are not always mirrors in the tunnels to the locker rooms" (SPORTUNE.fr, 9/3). On Tuesday night, Ronaldo posted the following message on Facebook: "That I am feeling sad and have expressed this sadness has created a huge stir. I am accused of wanting more money, but one day it will be shown that this is not the case. At this point, I just want to guarantee to the Real Madrid fans that my motivation, dedication, commitment and desire to win all competitions will not be affected. I have too much respect for myself and for Real Madrid to ever give less to the club than all I am capable of. Abrazos to all madridistas."
