Real Madrid president Florentino Perez ‘not contemplating’ Cristiano Ronaldo departure

Cristiano Ronaldo has not spoken to Real Madrid officials about a transfer away from Spain and he is not expected to leave the European champions during the close season, club president Florentino Perez said on Monday.

The prolific striker scored twice to fire Real to a 4-1 win over Juventus in the Champions League final earlier this month but his future at the club was thrown into doubt last week when Portuguese newspaper A Bola reported that he wanted to leave Spain after being accused of committing tax fraud.

Spanish prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against the player accusing him of defrauding tax authorities of €14.7 million (HK$127.8m) by hiding his image rights income between 2011 and 2014. Ronaldo has denied any wrongdoing.

The 32-year-old signed a new contract with Real until 2021 last November and has a release clause of €1 billion ($1.11 billion).

“I haven’t spoken with Cristiano, I learned about it because of what came out in the newspapers. I don’t have any solution but Cristiano, like everyone else, has a contract and is a Real Madrid player,” Perez told radio station Onda Cero on Monday after earning a third consecutive mandate at Real.

“I’m sure he will speak to us about what has happened (with the tax case), which has obviously affected his credibility, and we’ll see what happens.”