Cristiano Ronaldo's Release Clause from Real Madrid is Reportedly Worth Over $1 Billion

Has Cristiano Ronaldo ever been happy since his move to Real Madrid in 2009? Don’t answer that since it’s basically a rhetorical question at this point. Every so often, like clockwork, news emerges that Ronaldo is “unhappy” at Real Madrid. Why he’s uphappy is anyone’s guess. At Madrid he’s scored 269 goals in 257 games, winning a La Liga title and the Champions League in May. The team pays him a handsome salary, reportedly somewhere in the range of $27 million per year — although Forbes has it topping $50 million per year. (Either way, he’s being paid quite handsomely.)

Is he jealous he’s continually compared to Barcelona’s Lionel Messi because the two play for rival clubs? Perhaps he’s miffed because some of his Real Madrid teammates have the audacity to be taller than him? Does his supermodel girlfriend Irina Shayk have a problem with the Spanish capital?

Often Ronaldo comes off like a petulant child — Veruca Salt of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory infamy, if you will — acting as if nothing will ever be good enough. In turn the last couple weeks, the European soccer rumor mill have tried to spark the Ronaldo-to-Manchester United return story. A couple of United fans hired a plane to fly a “come home” banner during a Real Madrid match this season, which I’m sure Ronaldo could see during the game and convinced him.

Spanish sports newspaper AS talked with Ronaldo’s agent, well, super-agent Jorge Mendes about his star client. Mendes claimed that nobody is calling about Ronaldo since the release clause in his contract is worth $1.2 billion. (Insert appropriate eye roll.)

Actually, this quote attributed to Mendes about Ronaldo, via the Guardian, is even better than the billion-dollar one.

"“We will never find one like [Ronaldo],” he said. “It is true he is getting better and will continue to improve until he is 40. Cristiano has no limits. Besides being the best footballer in history, he is the greatest athlete of all time. There will be no one like him in the next 500 years.”"

Who knows, maybe there are aliens from another galaxy in desperate need of soccer players to save their planet. Perhaps they could meet Ronaldo’s other-worldly price tag.