News which broke on Friday – that Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly bought a mega-mansion in Dubai – will likely come as no surprise to the dedicated followers of CR7.
The 38-year-old football tycoon is a canny investor in business properties, which includes his lucrative eponymous hotel chain, as well as no stranger to splashing out on exclusive homes around the globe for his personal usage.
His reported latest purchase is a staggering one. Situated on Jumeirah Bay Island, the 30,000 square-metre villa has six bedrooms, private access to the beach, a showroom for seven cars, a spa, a swimming pool with a view of downtown Dubai and accommodation for employees on site.
If the deal goes ahead, the property will become the Portugal icon’s sixth known property in an empire which spans four countries and two continents.
But rather than let his portfolio stay stagnant, Ronaldo has also offloaded a number in recent years, selling his New York apartment in Trump Tower at a cut-down rate in February 2022, and reportedly parting ways with his villa in northern Portugal with its sale to his national team-mate Pepe.
Here, Mail Sport runs through Ronaldo’s blockbuster existing personal property portfolio.
Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly purchased a mega-mansion on Jumeirah Bay Island, better known as ‘Billionaires Island’, a secluded Dubai enclave that is home to the super rich
The island is part of a gated community and includes several fine-dining restaurants, a yacht club and beach resort, while it directly faces the ocean
Ronaldo previously sold his countryside home in Geres, Portugal to national team-mate Pepe
A ‘retirement’ mansion on the Portuguese Riviera
While Ronaldo is keen to extend his playing career for as long as possible, thoughts were already on a future away from the pitch with the purchase of a significant plot on the Portuguese Riviera in late 2021.
More than two years later, his dream of a ‘hospital-sized’ mansion in Quinta da Marinha is not yet fully realised, and reports in June stated that the project – whose costs have ballooned to more than £28m – was a year behind schedule.
A number of CGI images of what the property might look like when completed have been shared by Ronaldo’s supporters, eager for a glimpse of the future, but for now, the project remains a building site, as well as a nuisance to his neighbours.
Ronaldo’s mansion is set to include a giant glass swimming pool with an underwater walkway, and a master bedroom measuring 1,000 square feet as part of what is believed to be Portugal’s most expensive property development.
Privacy also remains an issue at the property, and CR7 was keen to give himself more space and freedom in dramatic fashion. In 2022, Ronaldo attempted to buy a nearby golf course with plans to demolish the clubhouse, which is in the villa’s soon-to-be sight line.
But permission was declined.
The Portuguese superstar is believed to have his eye on his future after he finishes playing
Ronaldo’s ‘hospital-sized’ mansion (pictured: CGI impressions of the completed property) is a year behind schedule and currently resembles a construction site
The cost of the project has continued to increase and it may now end up costing over £28m
Two city-centre crash pads in Lisbon
When tired of the country, Ronaldo and his family will have to travel only 30 minutes to stay in either of the player’s lavish properties in Portugal’s capital Lisbon.
Reports suggest that the former Real Madrid star purchased the penthouse property in the city where he made his footballing start in 2018, and the Avenida da Liberdade pad is said to be one of the most expensive apartments ever sold in the country.
The £6million home includes a gym, three large bedrooms, and a spa, as well as jaw-dropping views of the city’s skyline.
The 38-year-old is also said to own a second flat of unknown value in the Rua Castilho area of Lisbon.
Ronaldo’s Lisbon penthouse has impressive views of the Lisbon cityscape – but no longer features a pool as in early design models
The £7m Funchal renovation
Ronaldo’s roots in Madeira, the island where he was born, are strong, making it no surprise that the property magnate has snapped up an eye-catching home base.
The Al-Nassr player purchased the former warehouse in 2015 and spent £7m renovating the seven-storey mansion, where his mother Dolores and brother Hugo are thought to live.
Three of the property’s floors are thought to be below-ground, and while little is known about the number of bedrooms in the palace, the grounds have two swimming pools, and an indoor football pitch for training.
But despite having an apartment-building style option as a Madeiran base, Ronaldo and his family spent only a month of the Covid-19 pandemic in the city-centre property, before relocating to a rented villa in the countryside.
Ronaldo renovated a former warehouse to build his seven-storey apartment-block style home
The house has two swimming pools – one on the roof – as well as two gyms and a small indoor football pitch where Ronaldo can train while he is staying at home
But during the 2020 lockdown, Ronaldo moved his family to a rented villa with more space
The last link to Manchester United
One property that Ronaldo is keen to shift is his base in Manchester. A year after his muddled exit from former club Man United, his mansion in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, remains on the market.
Ronaldo has already had to lower the initial February 2023 listing price of £5.5m significantly, with the seven-bedroom house now tagged with a guide price of £4.9m.
A prospective new owner of the 23-acre estate would find themselves in possession of a two-bed guest barn as well as the main house, plus property features including a cinema room, a wine store, a leisure suite with pool, gym, sauna, and jacuzzi, and a padel tennis court.
Home base at Real Madrid
His home for the majority of his stint at the Bernabeu, Ronaldo has attempted to shift his £4.8m property in the exclusive enclave of La Finca, but in April 2023, decided to list the property for rent instead.
The modern Joaquin Torres-designed complex has seven bedrooms and Ronaldo’s long-term partner Georgina Rodriguez once described ‘getting lost’ in the property due to its expansive size.
For the £8,800 a month, a potential tenant can also enjoy indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a state-of-the-art gym, a football pitch, and CR7 monogrammed door handles.
The Madrid mansion was the 38-year-old’s base for much of his career with Los Blancos
The property is now thought to be available for private rental, although the family still use it
When she first started visiting her boyfriend’s house, Ronaldo’s partner Georgina Rodriguez said she got lost
The property also features a multi-car garage for the player’s many expensive super-cars
A Spanish villa in a sporting neighbourhood
Ronaldo and UFC star Conor McGregor may have looked like an incongruous pair when seated next to one another at the ‘Day of Reckoning’ fight night in Saudi Arabia last month, but the £1.4m holiday villa bought by the player in Marbella makes them reportedly long-time neighbours.
Ronaldo is believed to have purchased the pad – which is located in the exclusive enclave of La Resina, a golf and country club estate between Marbella and nearby Estepona – in 2019, and like Ronaldo’s other properties, the house reflects his interest in contemporary design.
The four-bedroom complex also includes an infinity swimming pool with views of the Mediterranean.
The former Juventus player is thought to have bought this mansion in Marbella five years ago
The four-bedroom property boasts stunning views looking out to the Mediterranean Sea
… and his home in Saudi Arabia
It is not widely known if Ronaldo has moved into a permanent base as he becomes more settled in Saudi Arabia, but his last-known location was an appropriately opulent one.
The player and his family moved into the Four Seasons hotel in Riyadh’s lavish Kingdom Suite, which spans two separate floors at the top of the Kingdom Tour, one of the tallest buildings in the country.
Ronaldo and his family stayed at the Four Seasons hotel after moving to Riyadh in early 2023
The star and his family stayed in the hotel’s lavish ‘Kingdom Suite’ – which stretches two floors
Its location in the Kingdom Tower gives the suite incompable views of Ronaldo’s new city
The suite was one of 17 occupied by his associated entourage including family members, employees, and security detail.
Ronaldo was set to stay for just over a month at the five-star hotel, which would have seen a potential bill come over £250,000.