• Premier League

10 other things United could blow £140m on

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players the world has ever seen, but is even he worth that much money? © Getty Images

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Manchester United will have to cough up an eye-watering £140 million to bring their former talisman Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford, according to reports.

That outlay, which is on the conservative side of some estimates, breaks down as a healthy £60m on transfer fees and an altogether incredible £80m in wages for the Real Madrid forward, over what would likely be a five-year contract.

Whether or not Ronaldo would agree to a return to the North West is currently up for debate, but United would surely jump at the chance to re-sign the Portuguese, who scored a whopping 118 goals in his six-year spell at Old Trafford.

However, £140m is an extraordinary amount of money. Is that best spent on one player, even someone of Ronaldo's talents? What else could Louis Van Gaal, Ed Woodward and the Glazers buy for that kind of cash?

1. Four-and-a-half Diego Costas

Diego Costa is the Premier League's leading goalscorer © Getty Images

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The Premier League's leading goalscorer cost Chelsea a bargain £32m this summer. His league tally of seven goals is only two shy of Ronaldo's nine La Liga strikes this season.

2. Burnley's entire transfer history, three times over

Newly-promoted Burnley have spent a paltry £45m on new players in their entire 126-year history. United's record-signing Angel Di Maria cost £15m more than that. By ditching Ronaldo and training their guns on Turf Moor, United could by more than 12 decades' worth of players.

3. 35% of Tottenham's new stadium

Tottenham are set to move out of their White Hart Lane home into a new £400m stadium by 2018, give or take a legal challenge or two. United could return to the club from which they poached the likes of Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Carrick to buy into a prime piece of real estate.

4. Eight-and-three-quarter Danny Welbecks

In selling Academy-graduate Welbeck to Arsenal for £16m this summer, United were accused of selling their soul by member of the famed 'Class of '92'. Any pangs of guilt Van Gaal might be feeling over the sale could be remedied nearly nine-times over with the Ronaldo money.

The multi-million pound man

Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid for £80m in 2009 © Getty Images

• Manchester United's hopes of bringing Cristiano Ronaldo back to the club from Real Madrid reportedly rest on them putting together a huge financial package.
  
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More realistically, Marco Reus' buyout clause is reported to be a lowly £20m. Seven Marco Reus' might leave United's line-up even more unbalanced, but that would be some midfield.

5. Nearly half of United's current outstanding debt

United's latest results for the 2014 financial year show their gross debt stands at a heady £341m, down from an even more alarming £389m in the 12 months before that. £140m is around 41% of that figure and there are more than a few United fans - particularly in the green-and-gold flag-waving anti-Glazer portion - who would like to see that debt come down further.

6. Almost every player they bought this summer, all over again

Alarmed by their slide to seventh in last season's Premier League table, United's owners have sanctioned almost £150m in summer transfers under Van Gaal. That war chest has brought in the likes of Radamel Falcao, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera and Angel Di Maria, whose Madrid departure is thought to have played a part in Ronaldo's restlessness.

7. 583,333 pairs of Ronaldo's boots

'CR7', as he is dubbed in Nike's promotional lingo, currently wears a custom pair of the Mercurial Superfly boots. They're right at the top end of the market when it comes to football gear, with a pair setting you back around £240. Buying 583,000 sets of the boots would be enough for United to hand a pair to everyone living in the City of Manchester, with a couple of thousand to spare.

8. 2.7 times Roger Federer's career prize money

Roger Federer is the world's highest-earning tennis player © AP

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Looking away from football, £140m would allow you to hand the Fed every cheque he's ever received from a tournament organiser, nearly three times over. The seven-time Wimbledon champion is the richest tennis player ever, with £51.5m in career prize money. Andy Murray, Britain's No.1, has around £20m in winnings.

9. The better-part of six Floyd Mayweather fights

Floyd Mayweather Jr. signed a monster six-fight deal with US broadcaster showtime last year, which could earn him around £153m depending on who he faces in his final two bouts. In truth, 'Money' - as he is appropriately nicknamed - could earn even more than that depending on pay-per-view allocations, which is why he is the world's highest earning athlete.

10. The entire economy of Sao Tome and Principe

Granted, this one's slightly less accurate, but £140m is very nearly an entire year's worth of economic output from Sao Tome and Principe, a small island nation off the west coast of Africa. In fact, Sao Tomeans' mother tongue is Portuguese, so buying the country's two main islands could provide a convenient holiday destination for the Madeiran Ronaldo.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd