Cristiano Ronaldo may not have made a lot of positive headlines in recent times, but that hasn’t stopped the 37-year-old from splashing the cash this year. The Portuguese forward was in the news recently for reportedly buying a massive mansion in his home country, sparking rumours of his return to Sporting CP.

As per The Sun, Ronaldo is spending upwards of £18 million in buying and renovating the property, which could become of the most expensive houses in Portugal. However, the same report suggests that the property is not expected to be ready before 2023. Coming to the mansion itself, it is located in the Cascais region of Portugal, a 40-minutes drive from the capital city of Lisbon. It is spread across three floors and 2,720 square meters. The outside area itself is 544 square meters and consists of multiple gardens and a large swimming pool.

As one can guess, Ronaldo isn’t a stranger to buying expensive properties and buying Lisbon’s most expensive apartment for an undisclosed amount only reaffirms the same. All of this does seem to suggest that the multiple Ballon d’Or winner wants to return to his home country this January, however, no club in the Portuguese league have the pockets to pay CR7’s sky-high salary demands.

Only recently, Sporting boss Ruben Amorim commented on the speculation by saying, “I don’t know. Ronaldo is a top player, a Man United player. Everyone in Sporting dreams of the return of Cristiano, so I don’t want to speak about that. He’s a Manchester United player, a top player, and he will be for a few months.”

Further adding, “I’m going to respond the same way as a lot of journalists in Portugal ask me that question a lot. He is a Manchester United player. Everybody in Sporting dreams of the return for Cristiano but we don’t have the money to pay his wages. I think he is happy in Manchester but is not playing so that is the problem.”
Currently, Ronaldo finds himself in a bit of a pickle after being relegated to the bench under Dutch manager Erik ten Hag’s reign at Manchester United. While he did score in United’s 3-0 win over FC Sheriff this Thursday in the UEFA Europa League, he is not expected to start in the West Ham clash scheduled for later this week.