More money than you can shake a stick at

If you think Alex Ferguson was pissed the last time Real Madrid were making headlines trying to tempt winger Cristiano Ronaldo away from Manchester United, then he will go red when he hears about their latest tactics.

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon is all over the Spanish media telling anyone that will listen that he still has a chance to sign his dream-boat. And this time we are not talking huge transfer fees, the latest attempt to lure Ronaldo will go right to his pocketbook in the way of making him the highest paid player in the world.

To fuel speculation, Jorge Mendes who is Ronaldo’s agent, has been meeting with Real Madrid sporting director Predrag Mijatovic. While he claims its for other matters, don’t believe it. Real have a history of destabilizing players thru the media and the love affair with Ronaldo has not lasted the better part of 3 years. Let's just say the meeting wasn't exactly private.

The proposed salary: over 8m pounds per year, and with income tax in Spain about half that of England it would roughly equal 200,000 pounds a week were he being paid within the Premier League.

Ronaldo has scored a whopping 29 goals this season for United and signed a new 120,000 pound a week deal for 5 years. It’s more than likely that Mendes is trying to renegotiate terms and squeeze a few more quid out of Old Trafford, and why not? A winger that can score 30 goals in a season should be the highest paid player in the world.

At the moment Brazilian international Kaka is the highest paid player in the world, where AC Milan shell out 130,000 pounds a week.

I doubt Ronaldo would like to leave, I would imagine Manchester making him top of the salary heap will quiet Madrid.