Juventus have pulled off the biggest signing in recent years and acquired Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid. The Turin club paid €100M (plus a €12M agent’s fee and €5M solidarity contribution) for the Portuguese ace, who has agreed to a four-year, €120M contract. It is the richest deal in the history of the Bianconeri.
Ronaldo had started to manifest his intention to leave Los Galacticos after the Kiev final, where he spoke in past tenses about his time in the Spanish Capital. Juventus were reportedly able to take advantage of a gentleman agreement between the 33-year-old player and Florentino Perez that would facilitate his exit despite €1B release clause, provided he did not join Barcelona, PSG or an English club.
The president Andrea Agnelli has been uncharacteristically hands-on in the matter, talking to Ronaldo over the phone multiple times in previous weeks and personally flying to Greece today, where the forward was spending his post-World Cup vacations. The transfer inevitably had to been greenlit by the ownership considering the large amount of cash invested, in particular on the wages, which is more than triple of what the highest earners make at Juventus.
The Madama recently worked with Jorge Mendes on the Joao Cancelo deal, which started a relationship with the super-agent and got things in motion. Ronaldo clicked with the fan base after they gave him a standing ovation for that incredible bycicle kick back in April.
Ronaldo has won five Champions Leagues, La Liga twice and the Premier League three times. He lifted the Ballon d’Or in five occasions. He is the all-time top goalscorer with Real Madrid (451), in La Liga (301) and in Champions League (102). He is the most capped Portuguese player and triumphed in the 2016 European Champions.
Ronaldo is coming off a season where he started slowly, but turned it up in the second half and concluded with his usual numbers: 44 goals in 44 appearances. The Old Lady hopes to return to European glory thanks to his arrival: they have lost two Champions League finals in recent years and have failed to capture the big-eared cup since 1996.
Ronaldo re-unites with old teammate Gonzalo Higuain and Sami Khedira, but El Pipita’s permanence in Piedmont is uncertain and the Italian side could now be looking to sell some players to finance the coup. He could have an ideal partner upfront in Mario Mandzukic, who is capable of doing the same dirty work of Karim Benzema. Alongside Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa, he is set to form one of the most formidable attacks in Europe.
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