Cristiano Ronaldo is set to remain at Real Madrid. That is the gospel according to those closest to the football legend, with Real Board members and Ronaldo’s team mates at Los Blancos all saying that their most famous forward will see out his contract, which ties him to the club till 2021.

The very public assurances come on the back of weeks of speculation about Ronaldo’s future. Some sources say he has fallen out of love with Spain after being accused of tax fraud earlier this year, to the tune of €14.7 million. Subsequently, there were rumours linking him with a move to Paris Saint German or even back to Manchester United.

What went wrong?

The suggestions that Ronaldo, 32, would be moving to pastures new started emerging just days after Spanish prosecutors accused the Portuguese star of evading tax on image rights sales between 2011 and 2014. It is claimed that money was routed through a US Virgin Island-based shell company, called Tollin Associates, which Ronaldo wholly owns. Prosecutors claimed that the company serves no other purpose than to buy his image rights then immediately cede them to another company in the Republic of Ireland.

While these allegations sound serious, it is just another brick in the wall, as far as most Spanish football fans are concerned. Ronaldo is the latest in a long line of La Liga stars, including no lesser names than Neymar and Messi, to face such allegations. In every case, the problem arose with the abolition of the Beckham Law back in 2010, which suddenly meant football stars on telephone number salaries faced huge tax exposures.

Implications for the fans

Real has enjoyed unprecedented success in recent years, and much of the responsibility for that lies firmly at Ronaldo’s door. His name has become synonymous with the club, and if he were to leave, it would have a huge impact on Los Blanco’s 70 million strong fanbase. However, they would not be the only ones to have their weekends irreversibly changed, should Ronaldo move on. Millions more around the globe visit sites like www.bestbettingsites.co.uk every weekend to place bets on another Real win. The odds, and indeed the results, could take an interesting turn if Ronaldo ends up elsewhere.

Business as usual

However, we are assured from all sides that this is not going to happen, and from a pragmatic view, it is difficult to envisage Ronaldo taking a gamble on another team at this stage of his career, particularly when we consider the small matter of a €1 billion buyout clause in his Real contract.

Finances aside, though, it cannot be denied that under Zinadine Zidane, Ronaldo has arguably the best coach in world football by his side, and it is hard to see where else he would really want to go. The Manchester United rumour is a tantalising one, but given the history between Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho, it seems implausible. Mourinho himself has distanced himself from all the speculation, simply saying that such a move “would not make sense.”