Madrid: Spanish media said goodbye Friday to superstar Cristiano Ronaldo after persistent reports that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner will leave Spanish giants Real Madrid for Italian champions Juventus.
“Ciao CR7” said the headline of Barcelona newspaper ‘Mundo Deportivo’. “Real accept his departure, the key day will be today (Friday) and Juve want to wrap up the operation so they can announce it,” the newspaper said.
Spanish sport newspaper ‘AS’ said that the player could be unveiled to Juve supporters in Turin as early as Saturday, with the date 7/7 symbolic for Ronaldo who wears the No.7 jersey.
Juventus ‘hope to announce (the news) tomorrow (Saturday) in their stadium’, said the paper, which had the headline “Cristiano exit imminent.”
Ronaldo was applauded at Juventus Stadium by the club’s fans last season after scoring a spectacular overhead kick in the Champions League quarterfinals.
Spain’s ‘Marca’ newspaper claimed that Ronaldo has ‘already given his word to (Andrea) Agnelli’ the president of Juventus. “His desire to play for Juve is strong,” Marca said.
The paper also said that while Real maintain Ronaldo’s buy-out clause is one billion euros ($1.17 billion) – which would nix any potential transfer – ‘the player and his representatives say there is a signed document freeing him for 100 million’.
Numerous media outlets have reported since Wednesday that Juventus offered the galactico a four-year contract with 30 million euros per year.
Meanwhile Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes has told Portuguese media that the player would be ‘eternally grateful’ to Real Madrid if he ends up leaving the European champions.
Mendes was quoted as saying in Portuguese newspaper ‘Record’ that Ronaldo would always be grateful to ‘the club, the president, the directors, the medical staff, all the workers without exception and all the Madrid fans around the world’.
Mendes was quoted Thursday by ‘Record’ stating that ‘if that (transfer) happens, it will be just a new phase and a new challenge in his brilliant career’.
A slight twist to the tale, however, happened Friday afternoon. Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes was told by Real Madrid chief executive Jose Angel Sanchez that Madrid will insist on a euro 100mn transfer fee for the 33-year-old.
Mendes is confident Juventus can satisfy those demands and Madrid see direct negotiations with the Italian club as the next step in his sale. Sources indicated that Juve will sell Gonzalo Higuain to Chelsea and will raise part of the fund needed to get Ronaldo.
Madrid made Ronaldo an offer of £26.5mn a year last January, but the new salary was dependent on him reaching certain targets and Ronaldo took offence at such an incentive-loaded new deal. Since then his agent had been looking for options elsewhere.
