The world’s most grotesque transfer gets, er, grotesquerer

Having secured his services for a modest €94m, Real Madrid have gone to drastic measures to ensure that Cristiano Ronaldo will not “pursue his childhood dream” elsewhere before his new Bernabeu deal expires in 2015.

According to Spanish paper AS, Florentino Perez will insist on a €200m buy-out clause in his contract, making it virtually impossible for another club to poach him away.

The Madrid-based newspaper affectionately refers to this stupendous contractual stipulation as the “anti-sheik” clause - a reference to the failed advances of Manchester City’s owners for Kaka in January. Apparently, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has a similar deal in place, whereby potential suitors will have to fork out €150m for his services.

AS say that C-Ron is delighted with the astronomical buy-out clause, as it is a recognition of his value and status as the best player in the world.