Real Madrid president Florentino Perez navigated the Monday press conference regarding his re-election without a single mention of Cristiano Ronaldo.
On one hand, that means Perez did not lend any credence to rumors that Ronaldo wants to leave the club following tax evasion charges in Spain.
On the other hand, the boisterous, outspoken, and by no means bashful Perez did not come to the defense of his superstar.
UPDATE (from Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol):
Real Madrid president Perez to radio station Onda Cero: "Cristiano has a contract & he's a Real Madrid player. I'll always defend Cristiano"
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) June 19, 2017
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What that means is up to you to interpret, but Perez was expected to speak about Ronaldo’s future during the press conference. The fact that he didn’t could be as simple as “sources” being incorrect, or incredibly complex.
Marca has reported that Real manager Zinedine Zidane has unsurprisingly reached out to the Portuguese hero to try and soothe what ails Ronaldo.
Ronaldo has been linked with a move back to Manchester United, and one rumor claims that he’ll be offered along with Alvaro Morata in exchange for goalkeeper David De Gea and a whopping $234 million.