He may be a powerhouse for Real Madrid in attack, but there's more to Cristiano Ronaldo than his on-field exploits, it seems, with the Portuguese attacker also an undisputed leader in merchandising revenue for the club. The 31-year-old recently put pen to paper on a record contract extensionreportedly worth 250 million euros which will see him remain at the club until 2021 with the possibility of extending for another five years. But whilst Ronaldo's tally of goals and assists have brought much success to Los Blancos of late, the Portuguese has also proven to be a gold mine for the club with 40% of shirt sales attributed to his name. In particular, his profitability in the Asian market has proven to be the key to success and it is expected that his profile will continue to grow following the record deal. Meanwhile, James Rodriguez is the club's second most profitable player with shirt sales collecting an enormous interest in the Latin American region.Cristiano Ronaldo leaves Real Madrid he will be 36 years and four months old, an age that few footballers have achieved at the club and, in fact, one needs to hark back to another era altogether to find players who were still playing for Los Blancos at the top level well into their mid-thirties.
In the last decade alone, only the Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek can boast of having played for Real at such an advanced age. The Portuguese will be placed on a list of players headed by Ferenc Puskas, as the oldest to have defended the Real Madrid shirt. Puskas was 38 years and 233 days old before hanging up his boots and is followed in the list by Buyo, Dudek, Di Stefano, Gento, Miguel Angel Pena, Amancio, Ipina and Santamaria. Ronaldo, should he play until the end of his contract, would overtake Chendo, Quincoces, Miguel Munoz, Manolo Sanchis, Santillana, Fernando Hierro, Zidane and Gordillo. Other charismatic players such as Butragueno, Raul and Iker Casillas had already left the club before reaching their 35th birthday.
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