Isaac Williams
There are no doubting Ronaldo's credentials - his achievements are staggering; there is no doubting his passion for the game and there is no doubting his love for the mirror also.
This time the doubts come from Ronaldo himself, whose initial plan of playing football at top level till 41 seems like no picnic for the Portuguese star. Ronaldo speaking on his retirement plan says: “Now my plan to retire at 41 will probably be a bit more difficult to achieve and now we live in the moment”.
Though a legend in his business; Ronaldo in his statement has identified with his frailties. Of course Ronaldo’s doubts over how much longer he can cope with the physical demands of the game are reasonable. It's hard to imagine a 32 year old player keeping this sort of fitness level for another decade.
Whether Ronaldo’s employers are interested in keeping him is yet to be known as there has been no commitment of any kind from the Real Madrid owners coupled with rumours of Real Madrid’s supposed interest in Neymar, Eden Hazard and Harry Kane. This brings us to another question: “would Real Madrid be interested in keeping Ronaldo any longer than his current contract which runs out in 2020?”
Meanwhile, Ronaldo has made his intentions to stay at Real Madrid clear, he’s quoted as saying: “Of course I want to stay at Real Madrid, I love this club, and I love the weather and the people. I've lived in this city since 2009. It’s close to Portugal and you can get there by car – Spain is a great country. I love it."
It’s not hard to imagine Ronaldo taking road trips from Madrid to Portugal often nor would it be hard to predict he'll take more in the nearest future – at least till the end of his current contract. One thing is certain, at the moment; we have not seen the last of record breaking Ronaldo.
[Editor: Tobi Adesina]
