Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo "offered himself" to Serie A club
Premium Sport says it was Ronaldo and his agent, Jorge Mendes, who initiated the star's potential summer move to the Serie A champions. Cruz Azul vs America: Liga MX, live online
Cristiano Ronaldo put a major dampener on Real Madrid's Champions League victory celebrations in Kiev, talking about his time at the club in the past tense when he told an interview immediately after the final: "It was great being at Real." The striker announced that he would speak about his future in the days following the 3-1 win over Liverpool in late May, but has so far said nothing.
Offered his services to Juve sporting director, says Premium Sport
Far from being resolved, his stand-off with the club's president, Florentino Pérez, who rowed back on his summer 2017 promise to improve the player's contract, has deepened. So much so that Real's record goalscorer is closer than ever to leaving, with Serie A champions Juventus confident of luring the Ballon d'Or holder to Turin - in a deal which, according to a report in the Italian media, Cristiano himself initiated. Premier Sport says that the Portugal captain and his agent, Jorge Mendes, met Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici before the World Cup to offer the 33-year-old's services to the Vecchia Signora.
Unhappy over salary and Real Madrid's interest in signing Neymar
Cristiano, who currently earns 21m euros a year at Real, feels badly treated by the club over Pérez's broken promise, and his unhappiness over the situation has merely been exacerbated by the 45m-euro wage handed to Lionel Messi by Barcelona in November, and the 37m-euro salary that Neymar now pockets at Paris Saint-Germain following his world-record move to France last August.
Cristiano believed that, after winning the 2017 Ballon d'Or, Real would finally renew his terms; however, not only did that not happen, but he also had to listen on as Pérez publicly flirted with Neymar on the evening he collected the France Football award. Real's interest in Neymar is certainly a further source of annoyance: he can't understand why the club are not prepared to up his wages, but do appear willing to fork out over 300m euros for the former Barcelona forward.
Portugal skipper wants to earn 30m euros a year at Juventus
Against this backdrop, says Premium Sport, Cristiano began to make arrangements to leave the Bernabéu following Real Madrid's Champions League win in Ukraine, meeting with Juventus to propose a summer switch and asking for 30m euros a year to go to the Allianz Stadium. Since then, the Bianconeri have been looking for a way to make the deal a reality...
