Cristiano Ronaldo was obsessed with Lionel Messi’s salary when in Real Madrid: Report

He had questioned then Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu at an award ceremony on how much he was paying Messi, who said to him "I can't tell you, but it's more than double what they [Real Madrid] pay you."

Ronaldo would leave Real Madrid for Juventus in a move worth £100m.

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Cristiano Ronaldo was obsessed with close rival Lionel Messi’s salary back when he was in Real Madrid and had also cornered then Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu at an awards ceremony, according to a report by Spanish outlet El Mundo as per the Daily Mail.

He had questioned Bartomeu on how much he was paying Messi, who said to him “I can’t tell you, but it’s more than double what they [Real Madrid] pay you.” Shortly after, Ronaldo would leave Real Madrid for Juventus in a move worth £100m. He would then eventually make his return in Manchester United in 2021 before mutually terminating his contract last year to join Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.

A few days ago it was reported that the five time Ballon D’or winner’s long standing relationship with his agent Jorge Mendes is under stress after the Portuguese forward completed his move to Al Nassr.

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Per ESPN, the 37-year-old’s frustrations dated back to a lack of options when seeking a transfer last summer. Although a move to Al Nassr looked like an open door during the 2022 summer transfer window, Ronaldo decided to wait in hope of securing a move to a European club.

It was learned that there was no agent officially involved in the deal with Al Nassr, tallying with speculation that the relationship between Ronaldo and Mendes could soon come to an end.

Per The Athletic, “Mendes called Real Madrid several times during the summer to offer Ronaldo to them, but no proposal to bring him back to the Bernabeu was forthcoming. Other leading clubs rejected invitations to sign Ronaldo even when they were told United might be willing to cover the majority of his salary for this season.”