As the Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus rumours continue to gain momentum, ESPN FC’s Craig Burley explains why he’s not sold on the move.
Juventus general manager Giuseppe Marotta has refused to comment on speculation that the Serie A club have agreed personal terms with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Reports in the Italian and Spanish media have claimed Ronaldo, 33, is close to joining Juve in a €100 million transfer.
But asked by Sky Sports Italia whether Juventus fans “could dream of Ronaldo,” Marotta said: I will not speak [about the speculation].”
AS reported sources close to Ronaldo as saying he had accepted an offer of an annual wage of €30m after tax. It said the clubs were negotiating, with Madrid wanting more than €100m for a transfer fee.
According to TV show “El Chiringuito de Jugones,” Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes was in Madrid on Wednesday for a meeting with president Florentino Perez and director general Jose Angel Sanchez.
And former Juventus director Luciano Moggi wrote on Twitter that “Ronaldo has already signed for Juve and undergone medicals in Munich.”
Speaking to Tele7Gold, Moggi added: “This is my belief after talking with some important people.”
Marca’s Thursday front page featured Ronaldo saying: “If I’m valued at €100m, then they do not love me” — a reference to his alleged annoyance that Madrid would accept that for him.
#LaPortada “Si valgo 100 millones es que no me quieren” pic.twitter.com/DSiyWbWnpu
— MARCA (@marca) July 4, 2018
Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain, meanwhile, would welcome a reunion with his former Madrid teammate, his brother and agent has said.
“Gonzalo was at Real with Cristiano for four years, but he’s not told him anything yet,” Nicolas Higuain told Sky Sport Italia.
“It would be fantastic if he were to join Juventus and partner Higuain. They can read each other like a book, and it would be truly a huge signing for Juventus. Everybody wants him. It would be spectacular.”
Juventus may need to offload players to pay Ronaldo’s transfer fee and wages, but Higuain played down talk that his brother could rejoin his former Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri if he takes over at Chelsea.
“Gonzalo considers Sarri to be his sporting father and they have a fantastic relationship,” he said. “Sarri is not yet the coach of Chelsea, though, and Gonzalo has three years on his contract and is happy at Juve.
“Furthermore, he gets on well with [Juventus coach Massimiliano] Allegri. Links to other clubs are purely speculation. We’ve not spoken to anybody.”
Madrid’s willingness to let Ronaldo leave could be linked to whether they can do a deal with Paris Saint-Germain for either Neymar or Kylian Mbappe.
“El Transistor” radio show reported that Madrid statements denying moves had been made for either were part of a policy of keeping relations positive to ensure a deal can be done later in the summer.
Information from ESPN FC’s Italy correspondent Selene Scarsi was used in this report.
Dermot Corrigan is a Madrid-based football writer who covers La Liga and the Spain national team for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @dermotmcorrigan
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