Guillem Balague says Club holding Cristiano Ronaldo till Contract End

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague says that Real Madrid are now contemplating holding onto Cristiano Ronaldo, whose contract runs out in 2018.

They are planning to do so by giving a new deal for the superstar, who has just finished the 2015-16 campaign with 50 goals once again. This is the sixth consecutive campaign in which he has scored more than 50 goals in all competitions. Madrid were thought to be actively pursuing clubs interested in signing Ronaldo. However, they have now gone against their decision after seeing intense competition for limited top quality players at the moment.

Clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona, and Paris St Germain will be strengthening significantly the summer. However, there is not a huge pool of players available at the moment. This is likely to push up prices especially in the wake of a new TV deal in the Premier League. Clubs from England are expected to spend higher after receiving around 30% boost in the TV revenues. Madrid were contemplating selling Ronaldo, as the presence of the Portuguese has not delivered a lot of successin terms of trophies. Even though the player has been immensely successful, the club has won only one league title since the arrival of Ronaldo.

"There is a situation in the transfer market. Man City have to renew their squad, Man Utd have to renew their squad, Chelsea have to renew their squad, Barcelona have to make changes, Real Madrid have to bring in new blood.And there's not enough players. Real have gone from putting a price for Ronaldo to now thinking that there is no clear replacement in the market. As a consequence of the lack of alternatives in the market, Real might offer Ronaldo a new contract," said the Sky Sports pundit about Ronaldo’s future.