Real Madrid have agreed to sign Rodrygo Goes from the Brazilian side Santos for €45m, with reports in Spain that Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted a settlement over his tax affairs.
Rodrygo, a forward who is to complete his move to Spain in 2019, made his debut for Santos last November at the age of 16 and has scored five goals in nine league appearances for the club in the Brazilian top flight.
“Real Madrid C F and Santos Futebol Clube have agreed that Rodrygo Goes will play his football at Real Madrid when he reaches the legal age requirement,” the Spanish side said on their website. “Although the player would be able to play for our club as of January 2019, the agreement in place sets out that he will join the squad in July of that year.”
Rodrygo will join his fellow teenager Vinícius Júnior, who signed for the triple European champions last summer, in Madrid.
Meanwhile the Spanish newspaper El Mundo has reported that Ronaldo will pay €18.8m to the Spanish Tax Agency to bring legal proceedings against him to a close. The Portugal forward was accused of four fiscal offences but is said to have agreed to an admission of wrongdoing in the settlement, which carries an automatic two-year prison charge. However, like the Barcelona players Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano, the 33-year-old will avoid serving any of his sentence.