With friends like Cristiano Ronaldo, who needs … no, scratch that. Jorge Mendes can attest to the fact we all need more friends like Ronaldo.
Ronaldo bought Mendes a Greek island as a wedding present, The BBC reported Monday, citing Spain’s Mundo Deportivo website. Ronaldo served as the best man at the ceremony in which Mendes, his longtime agent, married longtime partner Sandra Barbosa. Ronaldo reportedly gave the couple the best gift in buying them a private island, which the reports didn’t name.
Greece’s financial problems have prompted it to sell a number of its islands, which fall within Ronaldo’s price range.
“At least a dozen Greek islands are up for sale,” The BBC reports. “On the website Private Islands Online one island is going for just €3 million ($3.3 million).
Mendes has guided Ronaldo throughout much of his storied career. Mendes helped Ronaldo transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 for a world-record £80 million ($127 million) and negotiated the Portuguese superstar’s mammoth 2013 contract, which makes him one of the sport’s highest-paid players.
Ronaldo’s extraordinary gesture to the Mendeses goes well beyond the realm of “payback” — not that any was warranted in the first place.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@Eurosport_UK
