Flamengo’s president has laughed rumours linking Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo to his club, saying he would only be a substitute for the club.
The Portuguese star had been linked with the Brazilian club in recent days but Rodolfo Landim reacted when asked if the recently-crowned Copa Libertadores champions would be signing him.
‘I don’t know where it came from but they have a lot of creativity,’ Landim told the ‘Papo Reto’ podcast, as reported by Record.
‘First of all, I ask: For whose place? It’s to be on the bench.’ Landim went on to explain why signing the 37-year-old would be an economic impossibility for Flamengo.
‘From what I’ve read on the internet, I don’t know if it’s true or not, he would have been offered $242million [£215m] for a two-year contract. Divided by 24 months, that’s about $10m a month.
‘Talk about a value far above the entire salary sheet of Flamengo for Cristiano Ronaldo.
‘To be Pedro or Gabigol’s [Gabriel Barbosa] substitute? I can’t… nobody here is going to go crazy things.
‘The amateur time of managing, of thinking that in the future we’ll pay the bills, that no longer exists. There is no possibility of taking a step that is not firm.’ Landim was also asked about the possibility of signing the Brazilian star Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.
He replied:
‘I don’t know how much Neymar earns. I’ve heard that it will be close to four million euros [£3.48m] per month. ‘If we consider that amount, he will not want to come to Flamengo given what I will be able to offer him, within the wage structure.
‘He will have a better proposal from outside. It’s natural, it’s the ‘There are clubs with much bigger budgets than Flamengo that will be interested in an exceptional player like Neymar. Having Neymar would be a dream for any club in Brazil, I have no doubts.
‘I think he will play outside of Brazil for some time because he is exceptional. The clubs that can pay salaries of exceptional players like him are abroad [not in Brazil].’
