REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Summer. Rumours of Cristiano Ronaldo falling out with Real Madrid. Football fans all over Europe sent into a frenzy. A hefty pay rise for Ronaldo and a contract extension. Winning another Golden Ball.
Rinse. Repeat.
That’s a well-known pattern for anybody interested in club football. Ronaldo already had one foot in the door of the Manchester United front office in 2017 and he was also nearly unveiled as the new Paris Saint-Germain star in 2015. Nearly.
The point to make is that Ronaldo rumours, as has been reported, need to be taken with a huge pinch of salt.
Juventus the unlikely destination?
This year, however, yet another transfer saga seems closer to the truth. According to Sky Sports Italia, Juventus have reached out to Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes and the 33-year-old winger is said to welcome moving to Turin.
Juventus are willing to offer £88 million, although the Italian champions need to evaluate their financial situation first and may even seek an external sponsor to fund the transfer.
REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva
Other sources, such as beIn and Marca, confirm the speculation, with the Spanish outlet adding that the Portuguese star would sign a four-year contract and earn £30 million per season.
ESPN FC have also confirmed that Juventus have submitted an offer for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Cryptic messages from Real and Ronaldo
Ronaldo himself has fuelled transfer rumours linking him with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu after his interview to beIn following Real Madrid’s third-in-a-row Champions League victory.
“It’s been beautiful to play for Real Madrid,” he said. When asked for a clarification, he enigmatically answered: “I’ll say more in the following days.”
A couple of days ago Real Madrid also released an official statement saying the information about submitting an offer to PSG for Neymar is “absolutely untrue”.
Given that Los Blancos went out of their way to deny these reports, this only made football observers more suspicious of something brewing.
[zombify_post]