Cristiano Ronaldo has renewed his contract and will be staying at Real Madrid till 2018. This renewal makes Ronaldo the highest-paid player in Spanish football, with a salary of €17 million net for each of the next five seasons, which is one million more than Messi gets.

Until now, Ronaldo owned 60% of his image rights, the other 40% going to Real Madrid. But now he will increase that percentage, although the club is also reserving the right to guarantee itself some kind of economic return on the investment, with the income generated by Cristiano Ronaldo's publicity deals.

In Los Angeles, Florentino Pérez and Cristiano Ronaldo have at last had their long awaited chat, sorting out past misunderstandings, which had meant that there was a something of a chill in the relationship between the two of them during last season. "It is clear that there is now a better understanding between them", say the people around both of them.

For Cristiano, renewing his contract was never going to be just about money, but also about affection. Feeling loved. Now he feels protected by the president, by the club, by his team-mates and by the fans. The Santiago Bernabéu idolises him and Ronaldo has become ensconced as the unchallenged leader of the team.

Real Madrid's intention is to make an official announcement of the agreement before the league season begins on 17 August. And of course if by then the signing of Bale has been sealed and he can be presented at the Bernabéu, so much the better.

Florentino apart, the key figure in ensuring that Cristiano Ronaldo will stay at Real Madrid till he retires has been Jorge Mendes, the player's agent. On two occasions he has mediated, and on others he has acted as counsellor when agreements were being reached between the player and the president. It was Mendes himself who persuaded Cristiano Ronaldo that he was not going to find anywhere in the world a better club than Real Madrid. "Where would you be better off than you are here?" he is understood to have said to CR7.