Reunited? Ronaldo (left) and Rooney enjoyed a good
partnership at United
Wayne Rooney has stunned Real Madrid by demanding to
become the highest paid Galactico of all if he joins Cristiano
Ronaldo at the Bernabeu.
Madrid newspaper Marca,
which has close links to the Real hierarchy, reports there has
already been contact between the
Manchester United
striker's representatives and the Spanish giants.
Manager Jose Mourinho and club president Florentino Perez are
both keen to strike a deal, but Rooney's huge demands of £250,000 a
week would be problematic.
It is also claimed that the striker's camp would be reluctant to
give up anything near the 50 per cent image rights which is
standard at the Bernabeu.
Central to Perez's 'galacticos' business model is to share
revenues that players make from their own commercial deals, which
helped to justify massive deals for Ronaldo and Kaka last year.
Barcelona have told Wayne Rooney's advisors that they have no intention of making
a January move for his services, according to El Mundo
Deportivo.
The England striker's
representatives are understood to have reached out to Barca but
were firmly knocked back by sporting director Andoni Zubizarretta.
The Primera Division champions intend to keep faith with Bojan
Krkic and are unable to fund a big money bid in the New Year due to
mounting debt.
It is understood that Manchester City would contemplate offering
Rooney £250,000 a week to help pull off a massive coup that would
signal a shift of power between the rivals.
You want ambition? Ronaldo stands in front of
replicas of Real Madrid's European Cup haul while presented at the
Bernabeu last year
Chelsea are also interested - with owner Roman
Abramovich prepared to bankroll a deal - but they would be
reluctant to offer much more than the £160,00 a week paid to
captain John Terry.
Ronaldo pulled in more than £200,000 a week when he quit Old
Trafford for Real Madrid in a world-record £80million deal last
summer, while Rooney's current £100,000-a-week deal expires in
2012.
The England star delivered an explosive public statement on
Wednesday in which he claimed United's lack of ambition was the
reason he wanted to quit the club.
