• La Liga

Ronaldo clarifies concerns about Real future

Dermot Corrigan, ESPNFC
September 12, 2012
Will Cristiano Ronaldo stay at Real Madrid? © Getty Images
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Cristiano Ronaldo has released a statement stressing that he is only thinking about winning games and trophies with Real Madrid and is not worried about his contractual situation.

The message was published on Ronaldo's official Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon as he returned to training with his club for the first time since his "sadness" comments in the aftermath of Real's 3-0 win over Granada ten days ago.

"I would like to reaffirm, without being concerned about contracts, that my focus is solely on winning every game and every available trophy with the essential company of my team-mates and all madridistas," the statement said.

Spanish newspaper AS reported on Wednesday afternoon that Ronaldo arrived two hours early at Madrid's Valdebebas facility, and he spoke before training with Jose Mourinho. According to AS, the club wanted the player to make some kind of public statement to dampen speculation that he was contemplating leaving, while Mourinho made it clear that he could not guarantee a pay-rise.

It had been rumoured in Madrid that Florentino Perez, the club's president, would also be at Valdebebas to question Ronaldo directly about his current unhappiness, but he was apparently elsewhere.

While on international duty with Portugal, the player released an earlier Facebook statement claiming his low mood was unrelated to money, but the Spanish media has since been full of reports that Perez was willing to offer a new contract that would tie the former Manchester United attacker to Madrid for the rest of his career.

Ronaldo's latest statement also referred to a successful international break for the Portugal captain, who scored in Friday's 2-1 win in Luxembourg and then laid on goals for Silvestre Varela and Helder Postiga in Tuesday's 3-0 home victory over Azerbaijan.

"Two games, six points," it said. "Mission accomplished. Yesterday we could have scored more goals, but it is also true that Azerbaijan greatly complicated our task. In any case, the final result of both games was very positive and it is now time to return to the club and think only about my club."

Ronaldo and Madrid are next in action away at Sevilla on Saturday evening in La Liga, and then face Manchester City in their first Champions League group game of the new season at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu next Tuesday.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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