keeping his options open for the future. Not even
Barcelona nor Manchester United's rivals in
England are off limits.
Ronaldo told The Associated Press on Thursday
that he knows it would be "very complicated" to
play for these clubs, but it's something that the
Real Madrid star doesn't rule out either.
He said nothing is certain in football, so he will not
close doors to any leagues or teams, not even
Madrid's biggest rival.
"It's a little more difficult, but...," he said, with a
long pause, not dismissing the possibility.
"There are things that you kind of already have
an idea, that to play one day for Barcelona would
be almost impossible, or to play for another
English club other than Manchester, it's very
complicated," he said. "But that's not 100
percent guaranteed. As I said before, there are no
certainties in football."
In his interview with the AP, the Portugal forward
made it clear that when it's time to decide about
his future, he will consider all options on the
table.
"Everything is open, all leagues," he said. "I may
end my career here with Real Madrid. I'm just
being honest. I don't know what's going to
happen tomorrow. If I were 75 percent certain, I
would say so, it wouldn't be a problem. But I have
no idea."
Speaking before the launch of his new product
with Herbalife, Ronaldo said he may even decide
to be somewhere else other than Europe, and
that it's not impossible for him to be playing in
the United States' Major League Soccer.
"Right now I don't see myself playing in the
American league, but that's right now," he said.
"In two or three years I may think differently."
He said that in the future he may be at a stage of
his life in which he might prefer playing in the
U.S., instead of the more traditional European
leagues.
"These are always difficult questions to answer
because we never know what's going to happen
tomorrow," he said. "And as a football
professional, this is always an unknown, so I
prefer to stay in the present. The present is good
and I'm enjoying being at Real Madrid. But in a
few years I don't know how I'm going to be
thinking."
Ronaldo has a contract with Real Madrid until
2018, but there has been widespread speculation
about him leaving the Spanish club -- despite
having become their all-time leading scorer.
Those rumors gained ground after his brief
sideline meeting with Paris Saint-Germain coach
Laurent Blanc in a recent Champions League
match at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Ronaldo has
been downplaying any immediate move out of
Madrid.
"When it's closer to ending my contract I'm going
to have to make decisions, whether it's staying at
Real Madrid or going to another club or ending
my career in a few years," the 30-year-old
Ronaldo said.
"It's normal. That's why I'm not worried, because
I know that everything has a beginning and
everything has an end. I'm ready for that. I'm
ready to stay at Real Madrid, to leave, to end my
career when it's time. It's part of my job."
The Portugal star, named World Player of the Year
three times, played six seasons with Manchester
United before joining Madrid in 2009.
Ronaldo also addressed a number of other topics:
Portugal at Euro 2016
"Portugal have never been the favorite. It's
normal, they never won a major title with their
senior team, so obviously they're not a favorite.
But in football there are always surprises and
anything can happen. So I'm hopeful that this
time Portugal can come up with a brilliant
performance. We have a good team, with 20
good new players and a very good coach
[Fernando Santos].
"We have all the ingredients to win an important
competition. There's always the luck factor,
especially in these short competitions. That's
always important when it comes to the groups,
the teams that you have to play against. But I'm
hopeful and I think that Portugal have a good
chance. We have a good team and good players
who are ready and motivated."
The Ballon d'Or
"Obviously, I don't have control over who wins it.
It's not like the Golden Boot, which is based on
statistics. This one is about votes, so it's harder.
Sometimes people don't look at what you did in
the past, just what you are doing now, so it's very
complicated.
"I don't think it would be a surprise if I won it, I
personally had an excellent season. In terms of
numbers, this was my best season. But it wasn't
in terms of titles, for sure. Whoever wins it will be
a deserving winner."
Real Madrid's recent woes
"It's complicated when the team is going through
a moment of instability. We want to make the
fans happy every day, but it's difficult, obviously.
But after the storm comes the calm and I hope
that's what we will find now. We have won five
straight matches after the loss to Barcelona. We
had the setback against Cadiz [in the Copa del
Rey], but we are going through a good moment.
"Personally too, I am feeling good, I'm more
confident, and the goals and the good
performances are happening. So I'm at ease and
hopeful of always being able to do more."
Retirement
"I'm not thinking about that just yet. I feel I'm
strong, I'm fast. Even faster than some of the 21-
year-old and 22-year-old players that I've been
playing against. And I hope that it stays this
way."
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